By Ben Adoga, Abuja
The Federal Government says more than one million out-of-school children have returned to classrooms in the last 20 months as part of efforts to expand access to education and address barriers keeping children outside the school system.
The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday while receiving the newly appointed United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Country Representative to Nigeria, Professor Isaiah Barreto Da Rosa, on a courtesy visit.
The meeting focused on strengthening collaboration between Nigeria and UNESCO in key areas of the country’s education transformation agenda.
Alausa said the return of the children to school represented one of the significant outcomes of the Federal Government’s education interventions under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He also disclosed that almost 6.7 million girls had benefited from government interventions designed to improve access to education and keep them in school.
The minister, however, called for a balanced approach to education, stressing that efforts to promote girl-child education must be complemented by greater attention to the educational needs of boys.
“Our human capital development must leave no child behind,” Alausa said.
He said the government’s education reform programme was built around six priority areas: Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), reintegration of out-of-school children, data and digitalisation, girl-child education and quality assurance.
According to him, the government is investing in skills development, digital technology and teacher capacity while increasingly relying on education data to identify areas of need, target interventions and measure outcomes.
Alausa called for deeper collaboration with UNESCO to consolidate the gains recorded in the sector, particularly in the reintegration of children who have been excluded from formal education.
He said international partnerships would be most effective when they strengthened programmes and initiatives already established by the Nigerian government.
The minister also highlighted the Federal Government’s Accelerated Teacher Professional Programme, which targets one million in-service teachers, and welcomed UNESCO’s technical support in teacher development.
He noted that UNESCO had also contributed to Nigeria’s efforts in TVET assessment, digital transformation, education for peace, and media and information literacy.
*UNESCO: 28,000 teachers trained, 1.7m students reached
Speaking earlier, the UNESCO Country Representative to Nigeria, Professor Isaiah Barreto Da Rosa, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s education reforms.
Da Rosa described UNESCO as a technical partner prepared to provide expertise in areas identified by the Nigerian government as priorities.
He recalled UNESCO’s longstanding presence in Nigeria since the 1960s and highlighted its interventions in TVET, teacher development, education for peace, science, culture, communication and information.
The UNESCO representative disclosed that programmes supported by the organisation had trained more than 28,000 teachers across different states and reached over 1.7 million students.
He also commended the Ministry of Education for its progress in digitising education data, describing reliable data as essential to improving planning and targeting interventions.
Da Rosa expressed readiness to deepen UNESCO’s cooperation with Nigeria in TVET, teacher capacity development and the reintegration of out-of-school children.
The meeting came as the Federal Government seeks to broaden partnerships around its education reform programme and sustain efforts to bring more children into the school system.
Alausa said the government would continue to pursue policies aimed at improving access, quality and relevance of education while strengthening partnerships capable of supporting the country’s human capital development.
The minister’s disclosure of the return of more than one million out-of-school children to classrooms in 20 months represents a significant government claim on progress in tackling one of Nigeria’s most persistent education challenges, while the proposed deeper collaboration with UNESCO is expected to provide additional technical support for sustaining the gains.
