Nigeria’s Government has expressed its readiness to return over 15 million out-of-school children to the class beginning from now to the end of the year 2027.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman stated this at a “One-Day Retreat on Quick Wins in the Ministerial Deliverables (2023-2027)” held in Abuja, Nigeria.
He said to achieve the target, the ministry is seriously strategising to address the twin issues of learning crisis and out-of-school children as they go together by moving from having robust policies to delivering on the policies.
“The Federal Ministry of Education has further distilled the implementation of the Ministerial deliverables to a more detailed implementation with turn-around strategies that would be measurable and capable of providing results that would be very visible to the Nigerian public.
“On out-of-school menace, we would be paying particular attention to this unacceptable phenomenon and in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment, would work towards returning 15 million Out-of-School Children to the classrooms by the year 2027,” he said.
Mamman also disclosed that President Tinubu has approved the reintroduction and implementation of school feeding across basic educational levels in the country, stressing that the implementation has equally been moved from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Services to the Federal Ministry of Education.
“The President directed that school feeding at the basic level be reintroduced and moved from the Ministry of Humanitarian Services to the Ministry of Education. He believes it will help in the areas of learning crisis and out-of-school children phenomenon,’ said the Minister.
According to him, the 35 percent salary increase and the removal of tertiary institutions from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) among others were necessary to boost morale and give tertiary institutions the autonomy to operate, adding that it would eliminate issues of strike that pervade tertiary institutions in the country.
“No Nigerian would be happy with the epileptic delivery of academic activities in our tertiary institutions occasioned by long-unresolved agreements,” he said
“35 percent increase in salaries of workers in our tertiary institutions, four months payment of salaries for the eight months they were on strike in 2022.
“Others are removal from IPPIS and granting autonomy for recruitment,” he said”
He said the retreat for all FME Directors and Chief Executive of all the parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Education would ensure that robust education policies are translated to meaningful implementation in the coming years leading to 2027.
Dominica Nwabufo
