Nigeria have 11.5 million Out of school Children – Education minister

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, on Monday said a total of 11.5 million school-age children in the country were not attending any school.

Adamu, in a meeting with journalists in Abuja noted that official estimates put Nigeria’s literate population at only 63 million.

The minister said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration had put measures in place to revitalise the non-formal education sector in order to address the challenges of mass illiteracy and growing out-of-school children population.

He said, “In the modern world of today, illiteracy remains a big social and cultural problem which can also hinder the economic development of the society. Worldwide, 750 million adults still lack even the most basic literacy skills. Also, some 264 million children and youths are not benefitting from education.

“In Nigeria, different official estimates put youth and adult literacy level at about 63 million. It is also estimated that over 11.5 million children are out of school. A large share of children who are in school are not attaining the learning outcome benchmarks.

“The security, stability and prosperity of Nigeria depend, to a large extent, on her ability to provide functional education to all citizens. To address this challenge, strong measures are being developed to revitalise the non-formal education sector.”

The Director-General of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Ms Irina Bokova, said the literacy day “offers a moment to review the progress and come together to tackle the challenges ahead. Partnerships between governments, the civil society and the private sector are essential to promote literacy in a digital world.”