By Peregba Jerry
The House of Representatives Committee on Alternative Education has said it is working on a framework to ensure that over 14 million out-of-school children return to the classroom within the shortest possible time.
The committee also said it would ensure that 16.5 million Nigerians are lifted out of poverty to aid the return of out-of-school children to schools.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the Northeast leads in the poverty index with 71.86 per cent of its population in poverty; while the Northwest has 64.84 per cent; and the Northcentral has 42.70 per cent.
Others are: the Southeast, with 42.44 per cent; the Southsouth with 21.28 per cent; and the Southwest with 12.12 per cent.
In a statement by its Chairman Almustapha Ibrahim Aliyu (APC, Sokoto), the committee said the House intervention would reduce poverty as follows: Northeast, 4 million people; Northwest, 3.4 million people; Northcentral, 2.5 million; Southeast, 3 million; Southsouth, 2.1 million, and Southwest, 1.6 million.
Aliyu said the framework would also see the out-of-school children acquiring relevant skills to become productive members of the society.
The committee chairman said the House intervention would address vital issues in public education by tackling poverty and value gaps.
He added that in partnership with relevant government agencies, the intervention aims at improving access to education for all Nigerian children in line with the aspirations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs-4) on qualitative and inclusive education for all.
According to him, the project is tagged: Nigeria Mass Reduction of Out-of-School Children and Youth Project (NiMPROP) and will last four years.
Aliyu said: “It would significantly reduce the number of out-of-school children through non-formal accelerated education system and other alternative schooling programmes.”
The government agencies the House would work with, the committee chairman said, include the National Commission of Almajiri and out-of-school children, the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education and the National Commission for Nomadic Education.
He said the committee had several engagements with the agencies in the past week, getting favourable responses from them.
Aliyu said necessary machinery had been put in place for the actualisation of the intervention with the House getting set to reconvene from its annual recess tomorrow.
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