No fewer than 11,000 identified as Almajiri children in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be enrolled in basic education facilities at the beginning of the new academic calendar in September.
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Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who announced the development in Abuja, on Tuesday, said the move would further pull many children off-the-street back to the school, thus reducing the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
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The Minister said the steady move to pull children off the street is a key part of the education sector roadmap of the government, adding that the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had directed the Ministry to ensure a significant drop in the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
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There’s an indication that the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-school Children and FCT Universal Basic Education Board, have been contacted to assist in the implementation of the programmes.
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The Minister had at the recent quarterly citizens and stakeholders engagement on Nigerian education sector ministerial deliverables in Abuja, in April, disclosed that out-of-school children has reduced by two million, from hitherto over 10 million.
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He said the two million children who are mostly Almajiri children were lifted from the street and enrolled in basic schools including Arabic literacy programmes, to acquire basic education and vocational training.
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He noted that the reduction of out-of-school children in Nigeria was one of the major focuses of the current administration, giving assurances that before the end of the year, many more out-of-school children would be brought back to acquire learning and skills.Â
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He said: “We have developed the guidelines and training manuals for the implementation of inclusive basic education Nigeria. These have increased access, enrollment and retention completion of both basic, secondary and tertiary school levels “
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The Minister also revealed that 70,674 teachers and non-teaching staff from across all levels of academic and non-academic training institutes were trained, while 2,122 students were awarded Nigerian scholarship awards, and 2,889 students studying abroad benefitted from bursary awards amongst other scholarships.
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He said the mechanism established by the ministry for inter-governmental relations has helped in building public private partnerships, and brought about an increment in school enrollment, transition and completion for learners, especially those with disabilities.
Courtesy, The Sun
