The Federal Government has said it will introduce conditional cash transfers as part of measures to increase school enrolment and reduce the high number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Olatunji Alausa, who made this known on Wednesday in Abuja while declaring open the stakeholders’ consultative dialogue on the Education Sector Renewal Initiative (ESRI) 2024-2027, lamented that Nigeria is rated to have the highest number of out-of-school children in the world.
The meeting had in attendance representatives from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the World Bank, and the European Union (EU), amongst others.
A recent report by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) indicated Nigeria is home to over 20 million out-of-school children at both primary and secondary levels of education.
The conditional cash transfer initiative is to encourage parents to release their children for enrolment in schools, with the stipend helping to augment family income and the child’s education.
Alausa said his strategic goals include reducing the number of out-of-school children, addressing learning poverty, and enhancing skills development and human capital for the labour market.
He also emphasised the integration of out-of-school children (OOSC) and Almajiri into formal education, alongside initiatives such as conditional cash transfers, school feeding programs, and Social and Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC) for the education of girls and vulnerable populations.
The Minister outlined a new strategy focused on advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and enhancing the overall quality of learning in the country.
He also stressed the importance of strengthened governance and management in the education sector, which involves organisational reforms of relevant institutions, enhanced oversight of programs and subnational implementation, improved planning, resource allocation, tracking, research, and monitoring.
The Minister further announced plans to build a robust data architecture and strengthen the Education Management Information System (EMIS) to improve decision-making and accountability across the sector.
“As we all know, the education sector is filled with numerous challenges. As we are aware, infrastructural decay, funding issues, unreliable data intake, cutting, planning, poor capacity, development for teachers, and problems of out-of-school, we have one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the nation.
“As a ministry, we are committed to providing quality education to all Nigerians as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the land as beautiful, which ensures inclusive, equitable, and quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all,” he said
In her welcome address, Dr Suwaiba Said Ahmad, the Minister of State for Education, acknowledged the challenges facing Nigeria’s education sector, including infrastructural issues, inadequate funding, poor teacher development, and the out-of-school children crisis.
She emphasised the Ministry’s commitment to providing quality education in line with global standards and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), noting that achieving this requires collaboration with development partners, stakeholders, and the private sector.
“As a ministry, we are committed to providing quality education to all Nigerians as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in line with SDG 4, which ensures inclusive, equitable, and quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all. However, we cannot do this alone.
“We need the support and collaboration of our development partners, stakeholders, and the private sector to galvanise resources towards the achievement of these laudable goals.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we expect our Development Partners to continue supporting our efforts to
revamp the education sector. We believe that together, we can achieve our goal of providing quality education to all Nigerians,” she stated.
READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
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