The Federal Government revealed on Thursday that about 39 million children of school-going age in Nigeria could neither read nor write.
The government also said that while Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest burden of out-of-school children, especially between the ages of six and 14, globally, only 25 per cent of those in schools are proficient in reading and numeracy
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, gave these statistics in Lagos at the Ministerial Session of the ongoing 67th National Council on Education (NCE) Meeting at the Lagos Airport Hotel Ikeja, quoting the World Bank report.
NCE is the highest policy-making organ for education in Nigeria, with all stakeholders in the education sector across the 35 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory in attendance.
Speaking on the theme of the event, “Addressing the Challenges of Policy Implementation: A Panacea for the Education Achievement of the 203o Agenda,” the minister said the disturbing statistics and narrative show that the country needs to strengthen the education system and service delivery, especially at the basic level.
While acknowledging the various interventions and initiatives embarked upon, especially by the development partners, including the World Bank, UNICEF, and UNESCO, to join Nigeria’s government to reduce the number of out-of-school children and improve numeracy and literacy skills through increased enrolment, infrastructure, and quality of service delivery, there is still a huge gap to fill in the system.
According to him, our shared vision is to reduce out-of-school children to 7% by 2034 and ensure that at least 50% of children demonstrate proficiency in reading and numeracy at the basic level.
The minister explained that the current administration of President Bola Tinubu is committed to overhauling the education sector at all levels, adding that doing so would enable his administration not only to attain its agenda for development but also to lay down the building blocks that align the education system in Nigeria with the current socio-economic realities of the 21st century.
He said “The roadmap, captioned Education for Renewed Hope, especially focuses on Out-of-School Children, Girls, Skills, and Entrepreneurship Education, calling for repositioning of the sector.
The minister listed the key priority of the government in the education sector to include an increase in students’ enrolment at basic and other levels, promotion of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), improvement in access and quality teacher education, data management and upgrading of ICT facilities and monitoring and assessment of the implementation of NCE decisions
He, however, commended the Lagos State government on its various landmark achievements in the education sector and thanked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the people of Lagos State for hosting the NCE meeting.
In his remark, the Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, pointed out that the state is very committed to ensuring its continued provision of quantitative and quality education for the people of the state.
Represented at the event by the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Jamiu Alli-Balogun, the governor explained that education is one of his administration’s seven-point agendas to demonstrate how important the sector is to the development of the state towards making it a smart city.
He said, “That is why the theme of this meeting is very apt and consistent with the state’s advocacy for a pragmatic approach to policy formulation and implementation in education and its constant review to align it with changing realities and our national development priorities.”
The governor said the state had really committed huge human and material resources into the sector, including infrastructural development and facilities in schools at all levels, adding that is why the students’ performance in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and other exams, for example, has improved substantially in the last five years.
He welcomed the delegates from all over the country and urged them to share insights from the perspectives of their various states and identify and embrace strategies that would work and yield collective results for the benefit of the entire country.
In his speech, the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, said education is not only an instrument for social reconstruction and the national development of any nation but a veritable tool to take people out of poverty and improve their quality of life.
He said the belief is that the NCE meeting would provide a workable solution to challenges hindering effective policy implementation in the education sector.
He reiterated that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is committed to reforming and improving the sector at all levels to the level that we are all yearning for.
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