Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman has said that research now indicates that Nigeria accounts for one of every five out-of-school children in the world and 45 per cent of out-of-school children in West Africa.
Mamman stated this in Ilorin at the official launch of the national campaign on out-of-school children and distribution of school materials to selected out-of-school children in Kwara state.
He said that this ranking was disturbing and unacceptable for a country regarded as Africa’s largest economy.
Represented at the event by Dr Olatunji David, Mamman said the federal government was mindful of the danger of the out-of-school children phenomenon and urged all key stakeholders, including civil society organisations, community and religious leaders, to act fast in checking the trend.
“Stemming the tide of out-of-school children is a task that this government seeks to accomplish. This is because we are mindful of the spiral effects of having a large number of uneducated population.
“One of the implications is that Nigeria will constantly produce miscreants who are ready tools in the hands of criminal gangs,” the minister said.
He appealed to all good spirited individuals within the state to aid the less privileged in communities by adopting the children and youths who are of school and supporting their education.
Also speaking at the event, the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq stated that the government will double down in pushing policies and programmes that will continue to make the learning environment attractive and ensure that no Kwara child is left out of school.
The governor however said that his administration’s investments in the education system of the state were fast yielding positive results, noting that this has continued to improve public school enrolment in the state.
He said the government birthed an e-learning system in basic schools to impart digital skills and improve learning outcomes, while boosting the capacity of teachers for maximum service delivery.
According to him: “The introduction of the e-learning system by our government to our schools through the establishment of digital literacy centres and KwaraLEARN innovative teaching techniques in education, as well as the school feeding programme have not only reduced the pressure on the parents but also increased enrolment and motivated the pupils/students to be regular in the school.”
Represented at the event by his Chief of Staff, AbdulKadir Mahe, the governor described the step to eradicate out-of-school children in Nigeria as unique and thanked the federal ministry of education for picking Kwara as one of the first states to benefit from the national programme.
“It is my sincere hope and aspiration that the overall target of this campaign will lead to an improved enrolment of school children and eradicate the menace of out-of-school children in our society,” he said,
The State Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Sa’adatu kawu, in her submission, called on the federal government to continue to give Kwara a priority in its dealings with states, given its sterling record of performance in basic education programmes.
“You must have been receiving records of performance of Kwara state in basic education, and you will discover that we are not lagging behind. I am appealing that Kwara State should always be given priority based on our track record of performances,” she said.
Chairman, Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KwSUBEB) Prof Sheu Adaramaja said the pride of any society depends largely on the structure, status and achievement of its basic education, acknowledging the exemplary commitment of AbdulRazaq to the sector.
He said the administration had invested so much in school infrastructure and human capital development, and in the welfare of teachers and non-teaching staff to motivate higher productivity in schools.
UBEC Programme Coordinator for Kogi State, Ibrahim Yusuf, commended the steps so far taken by AbdulRazaq to change the face of education sector in Kwara, particularly the regular payments and judicious use of counterpart funds.
