PHOTO CREDIT: The Sun Nigeria / File Photo
FG Returns Over 1 Million Out-of-School Children to Classrooms in 20 Months

The Federal Government says it has returned more than one million out-of-school children to classrooms in the last 20 months as part of renewed efforts to tackle Nigeria’s education crisis.

Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this in Abuja when he received the newly appointed UNESCO Country Representative to Nigeria, Prof. Isaiah Barreto Da Rosa.

According to the minister, nearly 6.7 million girls have also benefited from various government interventions aimed at improving access to education and keeping children in school.

Alausa said the figures reflect ongoing reforms focused on six priority areas: Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET); Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); reintegration of out-of-school children; data and digitalisation; girl-child education; and quality assurance.

While sustaining gains in girl-child education, the minister stressed the need to also pay attention to boys at risk of dropping out. “We must sustain the gains we have made with the girl-child, but we also need to pay attention to the boy-child,” he said.

He noted that the government is investing in skills development, technology, and teacher training, and is using improved education data to target interventions and measure impact. He also welcomed UNESCO’s support for the Accelerated Teacher Professional Programme (ATPP) which targets one million in-service teachers.

Earlier, Da Rosa pledged UNESCO’s continued support for Nigeria’s education transformation agenda and commended the ministry’s progress in digitising education data. He said UNESCO-supported programmes have already trained over 28,000 teachers and reached more than 1.7 million students.

The minister called for deeper collaboration, urging UNESCO to align its interventions with the Federal Government’s reform priorities for measurable results.
SOURCE: The Sun Nigeria –