‘Qualitative basic education will reduce out-of school menace’

Lauds W/Bank for supporting UBE with $611m
The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu has stressed the need for the country to strengthen the quality of basic education in order to address the alarming rate of out-of-school children.Represented by the Director, Basic Secondary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja, Dr Lamin Amodu at the official launch of Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme in Ibadan, the minister reminded that education is critical to national growth as no nation can rise above the level of its educational development.

The programme was a collaboration between the Oyo State government the Federal Ministry of Education, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) as well as World Bank. While noting that the current challenges confronting the nation’s educational system have left more to be desired, Adamu said, “With an estimated 13.2 million children out-of-school, Nigeria has the highest number in sub-Saharan Africa. For us to address this challenge adequately, we must strengthen the quality of basic education in Nigeria by confronting head-on those factors that deny our children access to basic education”.He added that it is against the background that the BESDA programme was launched in the state.

The minister also appreciated the World Bank for initiating the BESDA project and the provision of a total sum of $611 million to support the federal government in strengthening UBE as well as addressing the first pillar of the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) 2016 – 2019 on out-of-school children.

The programme focuses on 17 states in the country including the entire 13 states of the North West and North East, Niger, Oyo, Ebonyi and Rivers.Governor Abiola Ajimobi who was represented by his deputy, Moses Adeyemo commended the Federal Ministry of Education and the UBE for ensuring the provision of quality education at all levels to the citizens, most especially, their collaboration with the World Bank at the crucial period to bring-back all the out-of-school children through the BESDA programme.

He assured the federal government that the state would put in place all necessary mechanism and machinery to ensure the successful implementation of BESDA. Ajimobi noted that education at the basic level remains the vital instrument for a sustainable growth in the society, which depends on continuous development of human capital.

Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Mrs. Makanjuola Aderonke said all hands must be on deck to tackle the menace of out-of-school children.She added that neglecting this group would deny them their fundamental rights and jeopardise the country’s pursuit of her home-grown technological development and economic transformation.

The SUBEB boss lamented that the absence of a comprehensive and up-to-date statistics makes it difficult to believe that the issue of out-of-school children in the state needs immediate attention.