The National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education (NCAOOSCE) has expressed determination to document and enrol between five and six million out-of-school children across Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr Muhammad Sani Idris, disclosed this during an interview programme, ‘IN THE NEWS’, with Voice of Nigeria in Abuja.
He said the Commission had, since the beginning of the year, identified over 700,000 out-of-school children ready for enrolment, with a target of reaching between five and six million before year-end.
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“We are now having so far 700,000 identified out-of-school children that are ready for enrolment back to school. It is our prayer that before the end of this year, that figure will rise to about five to six million, those children that will be taken back to school.
“We have been working hard to address those areas of concern, believing that with the support we are getting from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, very soon Nigeria will be registered as a zero out-of-school children country.” The Executive Secretary explained.
Speaking on a recent UNESCO report indicating a rise in global out-of-school children to 273 million, Idris said Nigeria’s figures were declining rather than increasing.
He said efforts by the immediate past and current Ministers of Education had reduced the widely cited 18.3 million figure reported by UNICEF and other development partners.
According to him, the Ministry of Education had commenced a process to generate accurate data on out-of-school children, estimating that the figure would not exceed seven to eight million at the end of the exercise.
“And before the end of this year, we will be able to have cogent and verifiable data, data that will not only tell you about the child, but it will also lead you to where the child lives. We are contesting this UNICEF data, the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
“It’s not up to that number because this identification exercise has actually given us an impression that a lot of work has been done by various state governments, which was not captured by UNICEF, and which was also not recognised by most of the development partners. You have instances where you go to some wards in this country and you discover that there is no single out-of-school child.
“Our assumption is at the end of this exercise, we may arrive at around seven to eight million out-of-school children, and that will be the exact number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.” The Executive Secretary stressed.
Idris said part of the Commission’s strategy included enrolling 100,000 out of the identified 700,000 children into private schools, an initiative introduced by the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Alausa.
According to him, sensitisation campaigns were being intensified nationwide, targeting parents, communities and traditional leaders to support enrolment efforts.
“Traditional leaders, the Emirs, are the custodians of our culture and religion, so when we go through them, our advocacy is easily accepted because the people respect and believe them,” Idris said.
The Executive Secretary said the Commission was also addressing misconceptions discouraging Western education alongside Islamic studies, stressing that Islam does not discourage the pursuit of beneficial knowledge.
“So we are engaging them. The results are very encouraging. I want to tell you that I have so far, in various places, opened over 120 learning centres in villages where the schools do not exist.
“We are also ensuring integration of Arabic studies and language in the schools so that nobody will give the children wrong interpretation of the Quran,” Idris emphasised.
He noted that the Commission was strengthening international collaboration, including engagement with countries such as Ghana, to tackle the challenge as a cross-border issue.
Idris explained that legacy schools for out-of-school children had been established in Kaduna and Ibadan, with plans for nationwide replication.
“The experience we gathered using this legacy school is giving us a very serious blood tidying, that once this is adopted and replicated across all the 36 states, the issue of out-of-school children in Nigeria will be addressed. Nigeria will continue to serve as a role model for other African countries to come and emulate,” he vowed.
The Executive Secretary said the Commission was also deploying technology through learning centres, using tools such as radio, Facebook and Google Classroom to reach more children.
“We are about to enter into a partnership with UK FCDO PLANE, where they will deploy their skills of using radio to us, so that we will also use it to reach out to Al-Majiri and out-of-school children,” he said.
On skills acquisition, Idris said centres had been established where enrolled children were trained in solar installation, plumbing, tiling and agriculture, with over 200 graduates recorded in Kaduna.
“They and their children will never beg for alms again on the street. They will help their families. Some of them are close to becoming millionaires, there is a paw-paw farm established Jere Kaduna state where they will soon harvest, with estimated sales of over a million naira. This will also help in security because as they are engaged, nobody can deceive them into banditry, kidnapping, terrorism or other forms of social vices.” The Executive Secretary highlighted.
He commended state governments for expanding access to education and collaborating with the Commission, while urging increased efforts in underserved communities.
Idris, however, identified funding, acceptance and patience as key challenges, noting that the Commission inherited a long-standing out-of-school children crisis requiring sustained intervention.