The Federal Government announced on Tuesday that 2 million Almajiri children have been removed from the streets and enrolled in schools and Arabic literacy programs to get basic education and vocational training.
Prof. Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education, mentioned this during the first quarterly Citizens and Stakeholders Engagement on Nigerian Education Sector Ministerial Deliverables. He stated that the ministry’s inter-governmental contacts mechanism had aided in the development of public-private partnerships, resulting in increased school enrollment, transition, and completion for students, particularly those with impairments.
Mamman, who stated that reducing out-of-school children in Nigeria was a primary goal of the current administration, assured that many more children will be returned to school by the end of the year to learn and develop skills.
He stated that “2,000,000 out of school children, Almajiri, were enrolled in basic education and an Arabic literacy program with vocational training.” Developed guidelines and training materials for implementing inclusive basic education in Nigeria.
“These have increased access, enrollment and retention completion of both basic, secondary and tertiary school levels.”
The Minister also stated that in the last six months, 70,674 teachers and non-teaching staff from all levels of academic and non-academic training institutes were trained, 2,122 students were awarded Nigerian scholarships, and 2,889 students studying abroad received bursary awards, among other scholarships. In addition, the Minister stated that the ministry was on the verge of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with a private enterprise on the PPP model to address data difficulties in the education sector.
While lamenting the fact that pupils were becoming illiterate, Mamman stated that one option to remedy the country’s learning crisis was to include skills and digitalization into the education system (Schools), beginning with primary schools.
To that aim, he stated that the curriculum needed to be reviewed to fit new teaching approaches that allow for skill development and digitization.
He stated, “We cannot enter the next century with this condition; pupils who are unable to think, interact among themselves, collaborate, lack these soft skills, and have difficulty accessing digital resources.
“That is why we have so many out-of-school children because, first and foremost, they do not understand the benefit of attending school, therefore we want to impart skills and digitization starting in primary school. Those of us who attended school, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, benefited from what was then known as comprehensive secondary school, which included regular courses.
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