By Musa Baba Adamu
The Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, has said that the Federal Government was collaborating with state Governors to tackle the menace of out-of-school children.
Alausa said this at the 2025 Budget defence session of the joint Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TetFund and Education held yesterday in Abuja.
He said that the ministry had met with the state Governors and all the six commissioners for education, including FCT to find lasting solutions to the problem.
“So we’re working together on this. So, it now has to be a collaborative effort on what we have to do.
“The number of the out-of-school children is mind boggling and disturbing. It is not in just one geopolitical region. It is everywhere.
“We need to confront it else we will be consumed by it. We have to engage with our governors and we have held meeting with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum on how to collaborate on this.
“We are also working with all the 36 commissioners for education including that of the FCT”.
Alausa also decried that the Almajiri Schools built during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan were abandoned calling for efforts to revive them.
“Of the over a hundred of the schools built for out-of-school children, only few are operational.
“The funding of the Almajiri and out-of- School Commission is not enough. We need more funding in this regard,” he said.
He further said that the ministry would ensure human capital development to boost the education sector.
“We want them to develop. It’s the best part of any society. Without education, we an’t survive as a society.
“And if you look at the human capital index, Nigeria has one of the lowest human capital index in the world”.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Sen. Muntari Dandutse, emphasised the important role of education in national development.
“As lawmakers, we have a constitutional responsibility to ensure that resources allocated to this critical sector are strategically planned and utilised”.
Dandutse said that the proposed 2025 budget is expected to demonstrate a clear vision for addressing the gaps identified in the 2024 Appropriation.
“While also introducing innovative strategies to tackle emerging challenges in the education sector”.
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