The Federal Government, yesterday, revealed that it would spend an estimated N10 billion in five years to mop up out-of-school children in the country.
The revelation came as government said it was making efforts at descending heavily on some primary and secondary schools considered not living up expectation in terms of educational standard.
The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, speaking at a two-day retreat for state commissioners, permanent secretaries, chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs), directors and heads of parastatals and agencies in the education sector, explained that government had set up a target of five years to mop up the over 10.2 million out-of-school children in the country with the estimated amount.
Adamu, whose statement was contained in his “Education Sector Short and Medium Term Blueprint/Work Plan on the implementation of Education for Change: A Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP)”, he presented to education stakeholders at the event, regretted the high rate of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
He noted that most of them were almajiris, girls, internally displaced persons, orphans and vulnerable children.
He mentioned some of the strategic actions to be carried out within the period to include sensitization of traditional rulers and religious leaders on the need to inform their communities of the benefits of formal education.
While urging the lawmakers to increase allocation to the education sector, he called on the state governors to invest more in basic education as well as prompt access of the Federal Government matching grant from the Universal Basic Education Commission.
According to the details contained in the document presented to the stakeholders by the minister, by the end of 2020, about N3billion would have been committed by 19 states, outside the intervention of the Federal Government, in ensuring the enrollment of over 2 million school-age children that are not in school.