FG laments over 10.5 million out-of-school children

THE federal government has expressed concerns over the number of out-of-school children roaming the streets of Nigeria. The country is estimated to have 10.5 million out-of-school children, out of a total of 20 million in the world.

This is just as the Kano State deputy governor and Commissioner for Education, Professor Hafiz Abubakar, has restated the state government’s commitment to providing high quality and functional education for lifelong learning and self-reliance.

While speaking on Monday at the opening of the 62nd National Council on Education (NCE) meeting holding in Kano, with the theme ‘Inclusive Education Creating Quality Learning Opportunities for All: Implication for Concurrency in Education in Nigeria’, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Shade Yemi-Esan, noted that Nigeria has over 50 per cent of out-of-school children in the world, which is put at 20 million.

“Considering the fact that of the 20 million out-of school children in the world, it is sad that about 10.5 million are Nigerians,” she noted.

Dr. Yemi-Esan, who spoke through Dr. Adamu Hussaini, who represented her during the opening ceremony, identified the children to include the girl-child, almajiri children, children of nomadic pastoralists, boy-child dropouts, area boys, children of migrant fishermen and farmers, children living with disabilities, and more recently, children displaced by insurgency.

She added: “Although the last few decades have witnessed a steady growth of both governmental and donor-driven education interventions to address the problem of access to quality education, our society is still confronted with the stark reality of low attendance and low attainment as well as low completion rate among the marginalised and vulnerable groups.”

She, however, noted that no nation can achieve economic prosperity without a sound, inclusive and functional education system, saying that the security and stability of the country, to a large extent, depends on its ability to provide functional education to its citizens.

She maintained that the key to successfully address unemployment and social vices lies in the provision of inclusive quality education for all.

Speaking during the occasion,  Professor Abubakar described the theme of the event as apt and timely, noting that, “the theme is equally important in view of the fact that Nigeria is among the nations that are committed to the implementation of the SDG at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015.”

Professor Abubakar, who was represented by the Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor on Education, Malam Bakere Ado Useni, further stated that that state government had drawn up clear policy guidelines on inclusive education that would provide guidance for all relevant stakeholders.