Nigeria plans to return 15 million out-of-school children to classrooms

Nigeria plans to return 15 million out-of-school children to classrooms by 2027.

The Federal Government has expressed commitment to return 15 million out-of-school children back to the classroom by 2027.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday at a One-Day Retreat on Quick Wins in the Ministerial Deliverables (2023-2027).

Mamman explained that the learning crisis had also been a major issue which he said was a bad product of the out-of-school menace, hence must be taken seriously.

He said having robust policies in place was not enough to tackle the challenges but delivering on the policies would go a long way in addressing the problems of out-of-school.

"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 Tinubu's commitment, would work towards returning 15 million out-of-school children back to the classrooms by the year 2027," he said.

The minister also noted that President Bola Tinubu had approved the reintroduction and implementation of school feeding across basic educational levels.

He also explained that the removal of tertiary institutions from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) was necessary to give tertiary institutions the autonomy to operate.

He added that the ministry would work with the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to ensure a seamless implementation.

"No Nigerian would be happy with the epileptic delivery of academic activities in our tertiary institutions occasioned by long-unresolved agreements.

"Under the guidance of President Bola Tinubu, we engaged in informal consultations with the tertiary institutions based unions and have began to build trust as exemplified by the resolution of the following issues:

"35% 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.

The minister commended the uncommon understanding the unions had shown for the present administration while assuring them of the implementations in early 2024.

He added that in line with President Tinubu's directive to stagger the establishment of already approved tertiary institutions, the ministry had taken over the sites for establishment of some Federal Colleges of Education.

He listed the colleges as the Federal College of Education, Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State; Federal College of Education, Ididep, Ibiono, Akwa Ibom State and Federal College of Education(Technical), Yauri, Kebbi State.

Mamman said the ministry had concluded all administrative processes for their take-off for academic activities by 2024.

On teacher's improvement, he said the ministry had also revised the National Teacher Education Policy (NTEP) to chart the course for teacher education and development in the country.

He, therefore, said the draft document would be validated by stakeholders early in 2024 for implementation.