The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has disclosed that more than one million out-of-school children have returned to classrooms across the country in the last 20 months.
Alausa disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when he received the newly appointed United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Country Representative to Nigeria, Prof. Isaiah Da Rosa, who paid him a courtesy visit.
The minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja.
According to the statement, Alausa also revealed that nearly 6.7 million girls had benefited from government interventions designed to improve access to education and enhance school retention.
He, however, called for a balanced approach to the education of both girls and boys, stressing that Nigeria’s human capital development agenda must be inclusive.
“While we sustain the gains made in girl-child education, we must also give greater attention to the educational needs of boys.
“Our human capital development must leave no child behind,” he said.
The minister said the Federal Government’s education reform agenda was centred on six key areas: Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), out-of-school children, digitalisation, girl-child education and quality assurance.
He said the government was investing significantly in skills development, technology and teacher capacity, while using reliable data to identify educational needs, target interventions and measure outcomes.
Alausa also welcomed UNESCO’s technical support for teacher development, noting that the ministry’s Accelerated Teacher Professional Programme was targeting one million in-service teachers.
He acknowledged UNESCO’s contributions to TVET assessment and digital transformation, education for peace, and media and information literacy.
According to him, collaboration between Nigeria and UNESCO would be most effective when the organisation’s support strengthened programmes and initiatives already established by the Federal Government.
“Partnerships will be most effective when they reinforce programmes and initiatives already established by the Nigerian Government,” he said.
Alausa assured Da Rosa that the ministry would continue to collaborate with UNESCO to deliver practical results under President Bola Tinubu’s education transformation agenda.
Earlier, Da Rosa reaffirmed UNESCO’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s education reforms, describing the organisation as a technical partner ready to provide expertise in areas identified by the country.
READ ALSO: I May Lose My Home — Abia Director Begs Gov Otti Over 20 Months’ Unpaid Salaries
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.
Da Rosa commended the ministry’s progress in digitising education data and expressed readiness to deepen cooperation in TVET, teacher capacity 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.
The UNESCO representative said the organisation’s specialised institutes remained available to provide additional expertise to support Nigeria’s education sector.
He added that UNESCO would continue to mobilise domestic resources and leverage strategic technical partnerships to improve access to education, strengthen quality and equip Nigerian boys and girls with the knowledge and skills needed to contribute meaningfully to national development.
