More than one million out-of-school children have returned to classrooms in the past 20 months as part of the Federal Government’s ongoing education reforms, Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has disclosed.
Alausa 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, who paid him a courtesy visit.
The minister said the development was part of efforts under the Federal Government’s education transformation agenda to expand access to quality education and strengthen Nigeria’s human capital.
He also disclosed that nearly 6.7 million girls had benefited from interventions designed to improve access to education and encourage school retention. However, he stressed the need for a balanced approach that would also address the educational needs of boys.
Alausa said Nigeria’s human capital development strategy must ensure that no child is left behind, adding that the gains recorded in girl-child education should be sustained while greater attention is given to boys at risk of being excluded from the education system.
According to the minister, the Federal Government’s education reform programme is built around six priority areas: Technical and Vocational Education and Training, STEM education, reintegration of out-of-school children, data and digitalisation, girl-child education and quality assurance.
He said the government was investing in skills development, technology and teacher training, while improved education data was being used to identify gaps, target interventions and measure outcomes.
Alausa also welcomed UNESCO’s technical support for teacher development, particularly the Ministry’s Accelerated Teacher Professional Programme, which targets one million in-service teachers.
He further highlighted UNESCO’s contributions to vocational education, digital transformation, peace education, and media and information literacy, urging stronger coordination between international partners and programmes already initiated by the Nigerian government.
Responding, Da Rosa reaffirmed UNESCO’s readiness to support Nigeria’s education transformation agenda with technical expertise. He said UNESCO-supported programmes had trained more than 28,000 teachers and reached over 1.7 million students in Nigeria.
The UNESCO representative also commended the Ministry’s progress in digitising education data and expressed the organisation’s willingness to deepen cooperation in teacher development, technical and vocational education and the reintegration of children who remain out of school.
Alausa assured UNESCO of the Federal Government’s continued partnership, saying Nigeria would mobilise domestic resources and leverage strategic international support to expand access, improve educational quality and equip young Nigerians with the skills required for national development.
