The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said the number of out-of-school children has reduced from 10.1million in 2019 to 6.95 million in 2020.
Mr Adamu, who disclosed this development at the 2020 Annual Ministerial briefing in Abuja on Thursday, said the reduction was possible through the Federal Government’s Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) initiative.
The minister said BESDA initiative in 17 states had been responsible for an additional enrolment of 1,053,422 children
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He said the ministry was working closely with the National Association of Proprietors and School Owners of Nigeria to reduce the number of out-of-school children.
He said the association had taken over one million out-of-school children off the street, with each private school sponsoring five pupils.
“Under the initiative of BESDA, the federal government secured a World Bank credit facility of 611million dollars to support 17 states in strengthening Universal Basic Education.
“The facility will also address the first pillar of the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) on out-of-school children.
“So far, we have launched BESDA in 10 states namely: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Ebonyi, Kano, Oyo, Yobe, Niger and Zamfara States.
“As of today, we have recorded impressive school enrolment figures in 17 states of the federation where BESDA is being implemented.
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