The Democratic Front (TDF) has lauded President Bola Tinubu’s government for successfully reintegrating over four million out-of-school children back to formal education in the last one year.
Mr Danjuma Muhammad, Chairman of the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, described the development as a salient milestone.
This, he said, was especially because of the growing concern and attention the issue of out-of-school children had generated across the world and the obstacle it constituted to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
He said that with over twenty million children currently out of school, Nigeria sadly ranked high in the league of countries with the highest number of out-of-school children in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“But with the integration of over 4 million out-of-school children between the age of six and eighteen back to formal education in one year.
“The Tinubu administration is poised to unprecedentedly reduce the number of out-of-school children in the country.
“And also save Nigeria of the phenomenon of the risks associated with this problem.
“We are glad to observe the aggressive pursuit of educational transformation in Nigeria, as anchored by President Tinubu’s policies in the last one year
“It has resulted into some sustainably beneficial interventions like the disbursement of N3 billion education loans to students,” the TDF chairman said.
He noted that other landmark provisions in the education sector included the improvement of learning conditions through the Universal Basic Education (UBE) and the provision of 6,500 laboratory faculty buildings.
Muhammad said others included auditoriums in tertiary institutions through the Tetfund and the establishment of Rapid Response Teams to boost security in schools across the nation, among others.
He said that from official statements by the Minister of Education, Prof. Mamman Tahir, the TDF had confirmed the astronomical increase in school enrollment figures from 30 million in 2023 to 55 million in 2024.
The group chairman also confirmed the training of 85,662 teaching and non-teaching staff for various junior and senior secondary schools across the country by the group in the last one year.
He added that Tinubu’s goal for the country’s education sector encompassed a broader vision to improve access to quality education for all citizens.
Muhammad said the decision by the Tinubu administration to exempt universities from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and commitment to subsidise electricity consumption for university campuses should be lauded.
“Similarly, the recent approval by the president to convert some Federal Medical Centres to University Teaching Hospitals, to facilitate the mentoring of medical doctors and other allied health workers, equally deserve our commendation,” he said.
He, therefore, called on the Ministry of Education and its agencies to redouble their efforts in ensuring that the president’s intention to fully transform the country’s education sector was realised within the tenure of his administration.(NAN)
