More than one million out-of-school children have returned to the classroom in the last 20 months as part of the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to transform Nigeria’s education sector, Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has disclosed.
Alausa, who made the disclosure in Abuja while receiving the newly appointed United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, Country Representative to Nigeria, Professor Isaiah Barreto Da Rosa, said the government was also deepening interventions to improve access to quality education for millions of Nigerian children.
The Minister disclosed that nearly 6.7 million girls had benefited from interventions designed to improve access to education and retention in school, but called for a more balanced approach that also addresses the educational needs of boys.
He said Nigeria’s human capital development strategy must ensure that no child is left behind, stressing that the gains recorded in girl-child education should be sustained while greater attention is given to boys who are increasingly at risk of being left out of the education system.
According to him, the Federal Government’s education reform agenda, anchored on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, is focused on 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.
Alausa said the government was making strategic investments in skills development, technology and teacher capacity, while leveraging reliable education data to identify gaps, target interventions and measure outcomes.
He welcomed UNESCO’s technical support, particularly in teacher development, and highlighted the Ministry’s Accelerated Teacher Professional Programme, which targets one million in-service teachers.
The Minister also acknowledged UNESCO’s contributions to TVET assessment and digital transformation, education for peace, and media and information literacy, urging that such partnerships should complement and reinforce programmes already initiated by the Nigerian Government.
Earlier, Da Rosa reaffirmed UNESCO’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s education reform efforts, describing the organisation as a technical partner prepared to deploy its expertise in areas identified as priorities by the Nigerian Government.
He noted that UNESCO had maintained a longstanding presence in Nigeria since the 1960s, contributing to the development of TVET, teacher capacity, education for peace, science, culture, communication and information.
Da Rosa commended the Ministry’s progress in digitising education data and expressed UNESCO’s readiness to deepen collaboration in TVET, teacher development and the reintegration of out-of-school children.
He disclosed that UNESCO-supported programmes had trained more than 28,000 teachers across various states and reached over 1.7 million students, adding that the organisation’s specialised institutes remained available to provide further technical expertise.
Alausa assured the UNESCO representative that the Ministry would continue to work closely with the organisation to translate the partnership into practical results.
He stressed that the Federal Government remained committed to mobilising domestic resources and leveraging strategic technical partnerships to expand access, improve quality and equip Nigerian children and young people with the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to national development.
