Commonwealth Day: FG committed to elimination of out-of-school children syndrome ― Minister

The  Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, on Monday, reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to the elimination of the out-of-school children syndrome in line with the ideals of the Commonwealth with Nations.

He spoke just as the Queen of England, Elizabeth II, has emphasised the “spirit of unity” among the 53 member nations of the Commonwealth to ensure positive growth and overcome challenges confronting the nations.

Adamu in his speech delivered at the 2021 Commonwealth Day Commemoration in Abuja, Nigeria has held the commonwealth vision as a sacred duty to bring into practical measurable actions, saying this was what the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, has been doing with the declaration of nine priority areas of focus, to ensure the delivery of dividends of democracy.

He said the Ministry of Education mandate therein is to “Expand access to quality education,” stressing that this exemplifies the realization of Commonwealth’s charter principle to promote democratic governance, human
rights, equality, complete elimination of poverty and ignorance through the provision of quality education and empowerment of marginalized individuals, especially women and the girl-child.

He said: “The Out-of-school Persons Syndrome in Nigeria has led to the existence of a marginalized group comprising of children, adolescent girls, adult illiterates, school drop-outs and some nomads.

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“It is worthy to know that the Ministry took giant innovative strides that will continually reduce the number of this group. Part of our steps to comprehensively address this is to map the spatial location, the type, the cause and the appropriate intervention for each.

“At present, such interventions like the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) are being implemented in 17 vulnerable states.

“This has consequently, increased school enrolment by 3,247,590 persons and reduced the out-of-school children from 10.1 Million in 2019 to 6.946,328 Million in 2020.

“Collaboration with the National Association of Proprietors and School Owners of Nigeria (NAPSON) also took about one (1) million children into schools, as each private school voluntarily took in five pupils.

“Furthermore, the girl child is being empowered through another intervention: ‘The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE)’ programme. AGILE would ensure that adolescent-girls are taken into schools, trained and financially empowered to effectively contribute to nation-building,” Adamu said.

The Minister whose speech was read by the Minister of State for Education, Hon Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said drastic efforts were also being made to reduce the number of adult illiterates.

He added that the traditional nomads, pastoralist youths, women, adults and migrant farmers are being re-skilled
and grazing reserves remodelled into ranches to ensure sustainable livelihoods.

“All the above initiatives are possible through targeted funding supported by World Bank loans to ensure equity for all citizens,” he said.

Queen Elizabeth in the message, noted that Commonwealth Day commemoration with the theme “Delivering a common Future Connecting, Innovating and Transforming” emphasised the need for member nations to collectively utilise the expertise and resources of all member nations to achieve sustainable positive changes that will benefit all.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE