Almajiri Commission to On-board 3m Out-of-school Children by 2025

Sunday Ehigiator

The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, Mohammed Idris, has revealed that the commission was set to on-board 3 million out-of-school children into the school system and commence data gathering by 2025.

He made this revelation yesterday while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the National Basic Education in Nigeria Bootcamp (BEN-B) hosted by the Federal Ministry of Education.

It was themed: ‘’Improving Access to Inclusive Quality Education for All Children: Addressing the Challenge of Out-of-School Children.’’

According to him, the effort is against the backdrop of a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that about 18.3 million Nigerian children are out of school.

 To achieve this, the commission said it was set to open its offices across all the geopolitical zones of the country come December.

Idris also disclosed that the commission was also set to begin gathering the data of Out-of-school children across the country starting January, in line with the Federal Ministry of Education DOTS agenda.

“DOTS is an acronym for (D) building a robust data repository for the ministry capable of generating the ministry’s data;  (O) addressing the nation’s out-of-school population, (T) encouraging teacher training and development; and (S) prioritizing skills acquisition targeted towards quality education and bridging unemployment in society.

“I agree that some of the attempts have not yielded expected fruits but with the advent of this administration, the president is passionate about the plight of the Almajiris and Out-of-school children.

“Next month, the public will see us opening offices across all geopolitical zones of the country to mop up Out-of-school children. We have called together all the critical stakeholders, the almajiris, their scholars, and within five days we were able to come up with ideas that can address the problem.

“We have got their buy-in and we will begin house-to-house advocacy and begin our data generation by the first week of January,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has stated that the commitment aligns with the federal government’s aim to reduce the incidence of drop-out from the formal school system, through improved relevance on the subject, access to quality education and efficiency of the education system.

Alausa, who was represented by Dr Foluke Olatunj-David, said: “The future of Nigeria lies in the hands of our children, and education is the bedrock upon which we build that future.

“We must provide them with not just an education, but an education of quality and relevance, one that equips them to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.”