THE Federal Government has expressed commitment to return the over 15 million out-of-school children to the classroom by 2027.
The Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday at a One-Day Retreat on Quick Wins in the Ministerial Deliverables (2023-2027).
Mamman explained that the out-of-school menace must be taken seriously.
He said having robust policies in place was not enough to tackle the challenges but that delivering on the policies would go a long way to address the problem of out-of-school children.
He added, “The Federal Ministry of Education has further distilled the implementation of the ministerial deliverables to a more detailed implementation with turn-around strategies that will be measurable and capable of providing results that will be very visible to the Nigerian public.
“On the out-of-school children menace, we will be paying particular attention to this unacceptable phenomenon and in line with President Bola Tinubu’s commitment, we will work towards returning 15 million out-of-school children to the classrooms by the year 2027.”
The minister also noted that President Bola Tinubu had approved the reintroduction and implementation of school feeding across basic educational levels.
He also explained that the removal of tertiary institutions from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) was necessary to give tertiary institutions the autonomy to operate.
He added that the ministry would work with the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to ensure its seamless implementation.
He noted, “No Nigerian would be happy with the epileptic delivery of academic activities in our tertiary institutions occasioned by long-unresolved agreements.
“Under the guidance of President Bola Tinubu, we engaged in informal consultations with the tertiary institutions-based unions and have begun to build trust as exemplified by the resolution of the following issues:
“35 per cent increase in salaries of workers in our tertiary institutions, four months payment of salaries for the eight months they were on strike in 2022.
“Others are removal from IPPIS and granting autonomy for recruitment.”
The minister commended the unions for showing understanding with the present administration, adding that in line with Tinubu’s directive to stagger the establishment of already approved tertiary institutions, the ministry had taken over the sites for establishment of some Federal Colleges of Education.
He listed the colleges to include Federal College of Education, Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State; Federal College of Education, Ididep, Ibiono, Akwa Ibom State; and Federal College of Education (Technical), Yauri, Kebbi State.
Mamman said the ministry had concluded all administrative processes for their academic activities to take-off by 2024.
On teacher’s improvement, he said the ministry had also revised the National Teacher Education Policy (NTEP) to chart the course for teachers education and development in the country.
He, therefore, said the draft document would be validated by stakeholders early 2024 for implementation.