Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba says Nigeria has an estimated population of more than 10 ,193, 918 out -of- school children, making it the highest in sub- sahara Africa.
Nwajiuba disclosed this at the launching of Better Education Service Delivery for all ( BESDA) by Jigawa State Government in Dutse.
He said” For us to address these challenges adequately therefore,we must strengthen the quality of basic education in Nigeria by contributing head- on those factors that deny our children access to basic education.
The minister said the BESDA Programme aimed to increase equitable access for out- of- school children, improve literacy and strengthen accountability for results at the basic education level
According to him, the programme focusses on 17 states based on prevalence rate of out of school children.
They include all 13 states of North East and North West, Niger,Oyo, Ebonyi and Rivers.
He said that ” all key activities at the federal level to kickstart implementation of the programme by focus states have been concluded adding that” each benefitting state is expected to commence implementation in line with the specific steps and guidelines provided under the programme.”
In his remarks, Jigawa Governor Muhammad Badaru said in an effort to increase equitable access and qualitative delivery in basic education, his governmentt had recriuted 1,393 teachers in 2018 while screening was ongoing for the recruitment of 4000 teachers on J- teach.
