The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said addressing the country’s out-of-school children crisis requires a collaborative effort from all stakeholders, particularly communities.
Speaking at the launch of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) School-Based Management Committee-School Improvement Programme on Monday, Alausa stressed that the government alone cannot solve this challenge.
“We need a synergy of efforts from all stakeholders, with the community playing a major role, to pave the way for achieving the expected outcomes,” Alausa said.
The UBE program aims to improve teacher quality through the Teacher Professional Development (TPD) program, increase enrollment, and advance girl-child education. The program will be funded through the Federal Government/UBE intervention fund.
Alausa also reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to supporting the Universal Basic Education Commission’s (UBEC) 2025-2027 initiatives.
These initiatives include constructing 7,200 new UBE facilities, providing 1,680,000 furniture pieces, renovating 195,000 classrooms, and installing 22,900 water boreholes and 28,000 toilets across schools.
The minister outlined the pillars of the ministry’s education sector renewal initiative, which include increasing enrollment, enhancing technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to address skill gaps, advancing girl-child education, harnessing data and digitization, and strengthening quality assurance to meet global standards.
Also speaking, UBEC Executive Secretary Aisha Garba noted that despite a 7 percent increase in school enrollment over the past two to three years, about 13 million children remain out of school, particularly in rural and low-income communities.
Garba reaffirmed the government’s commitment to delivering equitable, quality education for every Nigerian child.
“Imagine a child in a community eager to learn, full of promise, yet held back by a lack of infrastructure, qualified teachers, learning materials, and a conducive learning environment.
“Today, we mark a defining milestone in our shared vision to deliver equitable, quality-based education for every Nigerian child and to rewrite that story.
“We gather to reaffirm our commitment to every Nigerian child. We are unleashing the promise of a nation.
“The promise that every Nigerian child, no matter their circumstances or location, deserves a solid start to life through quality-based education,” she said.
