Adejoke Adebiyi
In a recent development, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has emphasized the urgent need for an additional 20,000 schools and close to 1 million classrooms to address the alarming issue of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
The revelation was made public through a statement from the Federal Ministry of Education, where Ben Goong, the Director of Press, shared this critical information during a Tuesday briefing.
UBEC’s Executive Secretary, Hammed Boboyi, presented these staggering statistics while providing an update on the agency’s ongoing initiatives to the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman.
However, controversy surrounds the true extent of the out-of-school children crisis in Nigeria, as of September 2023. Delays in the national census have prevented the independent verification of the official numbers.
A 2022 UNESCO report estimated that Nigeria is currently home to approximately 20 million out-of-school children.
During the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian government argued that the country accounted for only 12.4% of the total out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Experts, however, noted that UNESCO’s statistics covered children aged 6-18 years, while the Federal Government’s focus was on the 6-11 years age group, leading to statistical disparities between the two sources.
In a statement from the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), Minister Prof. Tahir Mamman reiterated his administration’s commitment to prioritizing basic education.
He emphasized its pivotal role in positively influencing other education sectors and national development.
During a meeting in Abuja, the Minister urged all Nigerian states to show greater dedication by providing counterpart funding to enhance basic education development, assuring that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government is determined to ensure every Nigerian child receives an education.
Additionally, the Minister expressed confidence that the upcoming National Census will provide clarity on the actual figures of out-of-school children.
During his briefing, UBEC’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Hamid Bobo, highlighted infrastructural gaps and insufficient manpower as significant challenges the Commission faces in its mission to ensure equitable access to quality basic education.
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