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Tag: out-of-school

  • 100m children, youth out of school in Africa – AU

    100m children, youth out of school in Africa – AU

    The African Union (AU) says no fewer than 100 million children and youth aged five to 19 across Africa are not socially integrated simply because they are out of school.

    AU Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Mohammed Belhocine said at the ongoing AU Summit in Addis Ababa.

    Belhocine said the children and youth are vulnerable to all sorts of scourges, and they can be easily manipulated by terrorist groups, drug dealers and human traffickers.

    He noticed that many of them end up in different crime networks or migrating to other parts of Africa or out of the continent.

    He stressed the need to support these children and youth through vocational and technical training, and help them get necessary skills to become self-employed.

    Africa faces a setback in delivering quality education, especially at low grades, resulting in nine out of 10 children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    The children are being unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10, the commissioner acknowledged.

    Noting that Africa needs about 90 billion U.S. dollars to achieve universal education coverage by 2030, he called for global support for the continent to meet the funding gap.

  • Reps to ensure enrollment of 14m out-of-school children

    Reps to ensure enrollment of 14m out-of-school children

    The House of Representatives says it will ensure that 14 million out-of-school Nigerian children are back to school through an intervention framework.

    Rep. Almustapha Aliyu, the Chairman, House Committee on Alternative Education, said this in Abuja on Sunday.

    He said out-of-school children would be trained with relevant skills to become productive, adding that it was targeted at addressing public education by tackling poverty and value gaps.

    He said this would be in partnership with relevant government agencies, adding that the intervention was aimed at improving access to education for all Nigerian children.

    This, according to him, is in line with the aspirations of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs-4) on qualitative and inclusive education for all.

    According to him, the project is tagged ‘Nigeria Mass Reduction of Out-of-School children and Youth Project’ (NiMPROP), and it is proposed to last for a period of four years.

    He said it would significantly reduce the number of out-of-school children through non-formal accelerated education system and other alternative schooling programmes.

    “The government agencies that the committee is working with include the National Commission for Almajiri and out-of-school Children, the National Commission for Mass Literacy.

    Others include Adult and Non-Formal Education and the National Commision for Nomadic Education.

    He said the house would also ensure that 16.5 million Nigerians were lifted out of poverty, which would ensure the return of out-of-school children to schools.

    Aliyu said the committee had several engagements with the relevant agencies in the past week with favourable responses.

    He said the necessary machinery had been put in place for the actualisation of the intervention as the house reconvened from its annual recess on Sept 26.

    He said part of the initiatives was to ensure the significant reduction of poverty in the six geopolitical zones of the country.

  • FG committed to returning out-of-school children to classrooms – Uwais

    FG committed to returning out-of-school children to classrooms – Uwais

    The Federal Government is committed to returning out-of-school children to classrooms through various interventions.

    Hajiya Maryam Uwais, the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Interventions made this known on Monday in Sokoto while inaugurating 1,050 facilitators training under At-Risk Children Project (ARC-P) in Sokoto state.

    Uwais, who is also the National Lead of ARC-P, said:” President Muhammadu Buhari is deeply concerned about conditions of children on the streets and determined to uplift their wellbeing.

    ” The president has ensured timely approval and support of all policies relating to supporting children to live a good life as they are the future of the nation, ” Uwais said.

    Uwais said the project was designed to support vulnerable children to become self-reliant.

    “As we are all aware, the challenge of out-of -school children has continued to expose our future generation to serious dangers.

    “This motivated the government to initiate more projects to continue to engage the children into various skills that will give them a better future.

    “So, we have begun the training of ARC-P field facilitators for the 23 Local Government Areas, who would become the foot soldiers to support children that are at risk in their communities,” She said.

    The aide added that the facilitators are being trained on Information Communication Technology (ICT) , Agriculture, Entrepreneurial , Financial literacy, Digital and mental skills, Child right and Mentorship.

    She urged them to be transparent in thier dealings, ensure they live up to the expectations and liase with Tutors on step down training programmes.

    Also speaking, Prof. Yakubu Gobir, Secretary ARC-P in Sokoto, said the facilitators underwent a test in which 1,050 applicants scaled through and they expected to enroll 50,250 out-of-school children across the state.

    He said that after the training which involved 50 facilitators from each LGA, those trained will go back to their council wards to cascade the training to the children at risk.

    Also contributing, Hajiya A’Isha Dantsoho, the Permanent Secretary, Sokoto state Ministry of Women and Children Affairs described the programme as a landmark move to project children in the state.

    Dantsoho commended federal government for collaborating with the Sokoto State government to implement the ARC-P.

    Some of the facilitators, Musa Bashir and Hairat Abdullahi who spoke on behalf of others, thanked the government for the initiative and pledged to do their best in order to achieve the desired results.

    Newsmen reports that Gov. Aminu Tambuwal approved N500 million for the take off of the ARC-P in Sokoto state.

    Newsmen reports that the federal government said efforts would be made to provide protection for the over nine million unprotected children in Nigeria.

    The category of children, the government said, are those who deal daily with violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and exclusion, would be supported through the ARC-P.

    The vision of ARC-P is to comprehensively address cross-cutting concerns of at-risk children and provide them with a life of dignity.

  • We have reduced number of out-of-school children to 6.9 million, FG boasts

    We have reduced number of out-of-school children to 6.9 million, FG boasts

    The Federal Government Thursday stated that Nigeria’s out- of-school-children (OSC) has dropped to 6.946 million from 10.1 million.

    The government claimed that 3.247,590 million children, who were not in school, were enrolled within the space of a year and seven months, due to several activities undertaken by the Federal Ministry of Education.

    Although the government didn’t state the activities it undertook in 2020 to reduce the number, but the 2018 National Personnel Audit conducted by the Universal Basic Education Commission for Primary Schools in the country, showed that Nigeria had about 10, 193, 918 out – of – school kids, with many concentrated in the north and mostly Almajirai.

    Speaking with reporters on Thursday during the Ministerial Press Briefing to showcase the achievement of the ministry of education in 2020, Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, stated that the government has secured a credit facility of $611 million from the World Bank to support Universal Basic Education (UBE), in seventeen states.

    He added that the money will be used to implement the Better Education Service Delivery For All (BESDA) in the entire 13states of the North West and North East as well as Niger, Oyo, Ebony and Rivers states.

    The minister said: “On the 21st of May 2019 in what I termed my valedictory press briefing, I told you that my greatest regret then, was our inability to bring down the number of out-of-school-children to a manageable/barest minimum.

    “Under the initiative of the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA), the Federal Government secured a World Bank credit facility in the sun of $611,000,000 to support 17 states of the federation in strengthening Universal Basic Education as well as the first pillar of the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) on Out-of-school-children.

    “As at today, we have recorded impressive school enrollment 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 by 3.247,590 as at 31st December 2020.

    “This is made up of 1,792,833 through formal schools, while 1,454,757 are through non- formal interventions such as Almajiri, Girl Child Nomadic and IDPs as confirmed by the National Population Commission and National Bureau of Statistics.”

    According to him, a total of 1,792,833 children were enrolled through formal schools, while 1,454,757 children were captured through non-formal interventions.

    Of these figures, the National Association of Proprietors and School Owners of Nigeria (NAPSON) alone, led to the enrollment of over 1 million OSC with each private school sponsoring five students, the minister said.

    Also, enrollment programmes were said to have been carried out in Benue, Nasarawa and Zamfara states, he added.

    A breakdown of the total enrollment figures of 3.247,590 for boys and girls per states were; Adamawa 25,714, Bauchi State 83,391, Borno State 62,336 Ebonyi State 65,471, Gombe State 52, 600, Jigawa State 47, 616, Kaduna State 39,091, Kano State 302,434 and Katsina State 26,555.

    He added that; Kebbi State 25, 556, Niger 73,568, Oyo State 40,007, Rivers State 22,782, Sokoto State 71,000, Taraba State 24, 246, Yobe State 72,000 and Zamfara State 19,005.

    Adamu who was hopeful that more OSC’s would be enrolled in school this year, 2021, disclosed that $500 million loan was secured from World Bank credit facility to drive the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) programme, to ensure girls were taken off the streets, trained and empowered to live normal and quality lives.

    Adamu, who further revealed that 900,000 Nigerians were “taken off the shelve” of adult illiterates in 2020, said there were ongoing plans to develop an instrument to put a stop to out-of-school-children, by making it an offence for any adult not to undertake any form of learning.

    “The phenomenon of adult illiterates is equally disturbing. The children of illiterate parents are 80% more likely to be out of school. Attention has therefore been given to the adult and mass literacy sub-sector in the last one year.

    “In 2019, we were able to reach and train millions of Nigerians on basic literacy and numeracy across 14 states while 900,000 have been taken off that bracket in 2020. In the last two years, 1,900,000 illiterate Nigerians have been able to read and write either English or the three Nigerian languages through this effort. Our target of three million could not be reached due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the minister added.

    Adamu who emphasised the need to harmonise the school calendar and national examinations, explained that during the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, some learners especially those at the rural areas were unable to continue learning through online facilities due to major challenges of internet access and electricity.

    “Consequently, while some learners continued their education, others, especially in the rural areas could not, thereby putting our learners at different levels of exposure. Stakeholders in the sector identified the need for us to harmonise our schools and examination calendars, be it state, federal or private schools.

    “This is because at the end of the academic year, children in primary schools write the National Common Entrance on the same day. Similarly, JAMB, WAEC, NECO and NABTEB will have one calendar each for their examinations. Consequently a National standing committee on the harmonization of schools and examination calendar was constituted,” he stated.

    The minister noted that in the last five and half years of President Buhari’s administration, N1.7 trillion has been invested into tertiary institutions through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), with an approval of N395 million in 2020 to be disbursed to institutions for infrastructural and capacity development.

    On ensuring continuous learning during strikes and emergencies such as a pandemic, Adamu who said the ministry was collaborating with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said a grant has been obtained from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), to build a national education cloud to warehouse educational resource materials for teachers and learners across all educational levels

    “Upon the inauguration of this facility, hopefully in the next six months, time and space will no longer be a hindrance to learning. All public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education must prepare their workforce to operate under this environment in the foreseeable future.

    “In the last one year, three specialised universities were established. Also; four private universities, nine polytechnics, 20 colleges of education and other allied institutions were given license even as 20 applications for private universities were being processed for consideration by the Federal Executive Council and four polytechnics were at the final stage of approval,” the minister said.

  • 10.5m children out of school in Nigeria

    10.5m children out of school in Nigeria

    Mr Maulid Warfa, the Chief of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Kano field office, says more than 10.5 million children are out of school in Nigeria.

    Warfa disclosed this on Friday in Kano during an event tagged ‘Youth Talk’ to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the conversation on the rights of the child.

    “Young people today live in a world of unlimited potentials. However, despite gains in the situation facing Nigerian children and young people in recent years, much still remains to be done.

    “Too many Nigerian children and young people are being left behind, especially when it comes to education. Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children,” he said.

    Warfa explained that Friday’s conversation, tagged ‘Naija Youth Talk’, with the theme ‘The Nigeria We Want, Voices from Kano’, would allow young people to create the Nigeria of their choice as well as build momentum and support for further action.

    “Nigeria’s youth bulge is the largest in the world. Out of a population of over 200 million, more than 64 million persons are in the 15 to 35 years age bracket, an age bracket normally categorised as young persons.

    “It is easy to see this as a challenge to national development and it can be, if not properly managed. But the youth population of any country is a key ingredient of national development, a bridge and transition to a prosperous future,” he said.

    Warfa commended the Kano State government for understanding the challenges and working with key partners, including UNICEF to turn round the unfortunate situation of youth education for the better.

    In his goodwill message, Dr Mansur Muhammad-Tukur , Executive Director, Development Professionals Network International (DevProNet), described education, employment and empowerment as major key elements that could contribute to Nigeria’s development.

    “Kano State has the highest number of street beggars or ‘Almajiris’, scavengers and hawkers, especially the girl-child in the world and this is worrisome,” Muhammad-Tukur said.

    He also called on wealthy individuals to, at least, sponsor one or two of their house maids to school.

  • 10m Nigerian children are out of School – Lawan

    10m Nigerian children are out of School – Lawan

    The President of the Senate, Sen. Ahmad Lawan has decried the growing population of Nigerian children who are currently out of school, which he said stood at 10 million.
    Lawan said this on Tuesday, while reading his welcome address at the plenary.
    He said that the issue of children dropping out of schools was a concern to him as a former university lecturer and to the 9th Senate, saying that efforts would be made to address the challenge.
    “If there is one issue that is dear to me and which we must all take very seriously, it is that more than 10 million of our children are out of school.
    “As a former lecturer who has also in the past chaired the House of Representatives Committee on Education, I subscribe to the view that all children, no matter where they live or what their circumstances, have the right to quality education.“ Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, over 10 million of the country’s children aged 5 – 14 years are out of school.
    “This is a challenge for us in the next four years.
    “I am well aware that the problems of our country are quite enormous but they are not insurmountable.
    “ If we all work together as members of the same government, with different roles, we will achieve our goals to better the lot of the Nigerian people.’’
    Lawan also said efforts on how best to tackle growing inequality, security challenge would form the legislative agenda.
    He said the Senate would also consolidate on the oil sector reforms started by the 8th assembly.
    He said the Senate would help the executive to reinvigorate the war against corruption with necessary legislations.
    “ I intend to work closely with President Buhari in the interest of Nigeria without compromising the integrity of the National Assembly as an independent arm of government with oversight powers.
    “As lawmakers, one of the powerful tools we have for our work is the power of oversight which is meant to enhance transparency and accountability.
    “In exercising these powers, we will not only review, monitor and supervise projects being implemented by the executive, we will critically examine them vis-à-vis the cost and whether they align with our national aspirations.
    “And we will follow the progress of these projects right from conception to when they are finally delivered to the people, but we will do so with every sense of responsibility.
    “The system of checks and balances which we practice in Nigeria today was enshrined to safeguard the values of justice and the rule of law and deliver public good.
    “Therefore, in a season when majority of Nigerians are more concerned with outcomes that reflect their concerns, the best way to serve that interest is through cooperation and collaboration.
    He said given the dwindling resources amidst rising population, the executive and legislature must work together to deliver essential services to Nigerians.
    “ So, in exercising our mandate as lawmakers, we must at all times, and in all circumstances, be guided by how our action will positively impact the greater majority of our people.
    “Each of us, as lawmakers, must also resolve that the exchange of views, especially within this hallowed chambers, will be constructive and that we will respect one another.
    “ On my part, I pledge to lead in a bipartisan and unifying manner.’’
    The News of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Senate also constituted a 13-member ad-hoc committee to fashion out a legislative agenda for the senate.
    The committee, which has two weeks to produce a legislative agenda has Sen. Adamu Alero representing Kebbi Central as Chairman.
    Other members of the committee consists of Senators’ Chimaroke Nnamani, Ibrahim Baru, Abdulfatai Buhari, Aisha Dahiru, Uche Ekwunife, Ifeanyi Uba, Olubunmi Adetunmbi, Istifanus Gyan,among others.

  • 13.2 million children out of school in Nigeria, highest in the world

    A survey has shown that the population of out of school children in Nigeria has risen from 10.5 million to 13.2 million.
    The Demographic Health Survey(DHS) was conducted in 2015 by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Nigerian government but the result has not been officially released.
    But the Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education (UBEC), Hammid Bobboyi, quoted the findings of the survey on Thursday at the Northern Nigerian Traditional Rulers Conference on Out-of-School Children pre-conference briefing in Abuja.
    The conference is scheduled to take place in Kaduna October on 10 and 11.
    Nigeria is ranked as having the highest number of out of school children in the world.
    Recall that UBEC had in April this year stated that the 10.5 million figure was no longer reliable as it flagged off the national education personnel audit.
    Bobboyi who was represented by the director of social mobilisation, Bello Kaigara, said the 2015 Demographic Health Survey shows that the figure has since increased to 13.2 million.
    “If you add the number of children that have been displaced and the increasing number of birth, you find out that our source in DHS conducted by UNICEF published in 2015 reveals the number of out of school children increased to 13.2 million.
    “Over the last few years, Nigeria has been besieged by Boko Haram and lots of children have been put out of school”, he said.
    Kaigara said the increase has affected the socio-economic progress of the country.
    “This is equally affecting the implementation of some education treaties that Nigeria is a signatory to,” he said.
    He said it is important to engage traditional rulers who are custodians of culture to help in reducing the out of school children figure.
    Similarly, the Education Chief, UNICEF, Terry Durnnian, said the world would not help Nigeria to solve the problem if it does not solve it by itself.
    “The number of out of school children calls for serious concern. Nigeria should take on the challenge of reducing out of school children. UNICEF will only lead and support the process of reducing out of school children,” he said.
    He said Nigeria accounts for more than one in five out-of-school children and 45 percent of out-of-school children in West Africa.
    “Low budgetary allocation to education is a bane to the sector at all levels,” he said.

  • Out of school children drops to 8.6 per cent in three years – Adamu

    The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Friday said out-of-school children in the country has dropped from 10.5 per cent to 8.6 per cent in the last three years.

    Mr. Adamu, represented by the Registrar, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Ajiboye Josiah, said this on Friday in Bauchi at the flag-off of 2017/2018 National Enrolment Drive.

    The event took place at the Tudun Salmanu Primary School, Bauchi.

    “When the present President came into power in 2015, UNICEF was telling us that the out of school children in Nigeria was about 10.5 per cent, but I want to tell Nigerians that with the effort of this president especially with school feeding programme, it has dropped from 10.5 million to 8.6 million as at last year.

    “The government has put so many programmes in place to encourage our children to have access to schools and I want to commend President Muhammadu Buhari for that,” he said.

    Mr. Adamu pointed out that the ministry had made it a policy to construct and furnish 7,875 classrooms annually for the next four years, commencing from 2015 to accommodate and enrol 2,725,000 pupils as well as recruit additional qualified teachers to carter for the increase in pupils enrolment.

    He stressed that the ministry had earlier introduced the integration of Tsangaya (Qur’anic schools) into modern education system and the introduction of Enrolment Drive Policy to reduce the number of street children through the provision of quality learning.

    Mr. Adamu further said that the ministry had signed an MoU with NYSC to enlist children in hard-to-reach areas in the country into the community development services to support community participation to further reduce number of out of school children.

    Mr. Adamu, who described “teachers as nation builders”, said “because when you enrol your children they are the keepers, because even if you enrol and without the teachers they will go back, therefore, we need quality teachers to give them good and sound education”.

    He, therefore, urged the Bauchi State Government to take care of the welfare of their teachers and to recruit more teachers that would educate the children.

    “Education is a tool for enhancing human capacity for development particularly economic development because evidence abound that countries with high level of education are countries with high standard of living.

    “No country can develop beyond the level of its education, therefore, education can not go beyond the level of its teachers,” Mr. Adamu said.

    The minister pointed out that “the more we allow children to roam the streets, we risk our future, we risk our peace and the peace of our children”.

    Besides, Mr. Adamu urged political leaders to flag-off similar enrolment campaign in their areas of jurisdictions.

    Flagging-off the campaign, Gov. Mohammed Abubakar noted that the educational infrastructure in the state have been overstretched following influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) into the state.

    Mr. Abubakar, represented by his Special Adviser on Education, Sabo Mohammed, said the influx of the IDPs into the state from neighbouring states occurred when some of the states were hit by insurgency and called on the Federal Government to assist the state to enable it cope with the high number of children.

    The Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Universal Primary Education Board (SUBEB), Yahya Yero, had earlier said that the campaign was in conformity with the National Enrolment Drive Frame Work (NEDF) for 2018 with concentration at community level.

    Mr. Yero said the campaign would involve house-to-house exercise through empowering and supporting the School Based Management Committee (SBMC) and Mothers’ Association (MA to conduct the activity in their various communities.

    He said the two bodies would regularly track and monitor attendance of enrolled children in their respective schools and communities as part of their oversight responsibilities.

     

  • Nigeria has over 50% of world’s out-of-school children

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Adamu Hussaini, has disclosed that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world.

    Hussaini made the disclosure yesterday at the opening of the 62nd National Council on Education (NCE) in Kano.

    He said it was worrisome that the situation had adversely affected efforts to meet the sustainable development goals on inclusive education for all.

    He explained: “Almajiri-children, those of the nomadic pastoralists, boy and girl-child drop out, social miscreants, children living with the disability, those of migrant fisher men and more recently, children displaced by insurgency, constitute the bulk of the affected children.”

    The permanent secretary lamented that investments in education is still low, despite the significant impact of both national and international intervention in the sector.

    Hussaini stressed that the country’s inability to overwhelm the devastating challenges of unemployment and insecurity is due to the poor state of its education.

    He further explained that the Federal Government had allocated two percent of the consolidated revenue fund to the Universal Basic Education Programme (UBEP).
    He said some states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja are yet to access the 2015 education intervention fund.

    “No nation can achieve economic prosperity without a sound, inclusive and functional education system. The security and stability of the country, to a large extent, depends on its ability to provide functional education to its citizens,” he said.

    He said the theme of the conference “Inclusive Education Creating Quality Learning Opportunities For All” was designed to remove the barriers that prevent pupils from participating fully in education.

    The permanent secretary added that inclusive education rejects special schools or classrooms that separate students with disabilities from others, as well as discriminating against their social, civil and educational rights.

    The Deputy Governor of Kano State, Prof. Hafizu Abubakar disclosed that the state has developed a draft policy document on education to provide an all-inclusive education.

    A Special Adviser, Dr. Bakare Ado Hussaini represented the deputy governor, who is also the commissioner for education.

    He said when fully operational, the policy would break children’s barrier in accessing quality education.

    Permanent Secretaries in the Ministry of Education across the 36 states and the secretary for education in the FCT, head of educational agencies and institutions, as well as international development partners on education attended the meeting.