By Olamide Francis
The Federal Government has said that the number of out of school children in Nigeria has dropped from 10.1million in May last year to 6.9million now.
Speaking during the annual ministerial press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the minister of education, Mallam Adamu Adamu noted that the feat was achieved through the implementation of ‘Better Education Service and Delivery for All’ (BESDA).
The minister stressed that with the successful launch of BESDA in ten states, it recorded impressive school enrolment figures in at least 17 states. He further revealed that the government under BESDA initiative secured a World Bank credit facility in the sum of $611m to strengthen the Universal Basic Education in the country.
“Under the initiative ‘Better Education Service and Delivery for All’ (BESDA), the Federal Government secured a World Bank credit facility in the sum of six hundred and eleven million dollars to support in strengthening the Universal Basic Education as well as address the first pillar of the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) on out-of-school children.
“So far, we have launched BESDA in ten states, namely, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Ebonyi, Kano, Kebbi, Oyo, Yobe, Niger and Zamfara.
“As of today, we have recorded impressive school enrolment figures in 17 states of the federation where BESDA is being implemented. I can however tell you that through the BESDA initiative, we have reduced the figure of out of school children from 10.1million since May last year down to 6,946,328 million,” Adamu said.
The minister who also disclosed that the ministry is working closely with the National Association of Proprietors and School Owners of Nigeria (NAPSON), said, the association has so far taken about 1million out-of-school children off the street.
“As at the last count, NSPSON has taken over one million out of school children off the street, with each private school sponsoring five pupils. The Federal Ministry of Education recognises the association of school owners as a veritable organ to tackle the out of school children. This organisation already has schools and can easily absorb the children that are out of school.”
Speaking further, Mallam Adamu said, the Adolescent Girls Initiative For Learning and Empowerment Programme (AGILE), was launched by the ministry to deal with the challenges posed by adolescent girls who are out of school or have never been in school. He said, a World Bank facility of $5million was secured to ensure that the girls were taken off the streets.
“A World Bank facility of $5million has been secured to ensure that these girls are taken off the streets, trained and financially empowered to enable them to live normal and quality lives. Full implementation of AGILE programme will begin in 2021.
“The phenomenon of adult illiterates is equally disturbing. The children of illiterate parents are 80 percent more prone to be out of school. Attention has therefore been given to the masses’ illiteracy subsector in the last year.
“In 2019, we were able to lift one million Nigerians off the shelve of adult illiterates while 900,000 thousand have been taken off that bracket in 2020. In the last two years, 1.9million illiterate Nigerians have been able to read and write either in English or the three Nigerian languages through this effort,” the minister added.
