Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Hamid Bobo has said that the country needs additional 20, 000 schools and 907, 769 classrooms to absorb its growing number of out-of-school children.
Director, Press and Public Relations Unit of the Federal Ministry of Education, Bem Goong disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, September 19, 2023.
Goong said the UBEC Boss identified infrastructural gaps and inadequate manpower as some of the challenges facing the Commission in its efforts towards ensuring equitable access to quality Basic Education
In response, the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman stated that his administration would prioritise Basic Education in the country, emphasizing that the foundation level was the most critical segment in the sector which must be properly developed in order to impact positively on other tiers of the sector.
Mamman, further used the occasion to call on all States of the Federation to show greater commitment towards providing counterpart funding to accelerate the development of Basic Education in the country, adding that the Government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that every Nigerian Child was brought on board the ship of Education.
The Minister noted that the forthcoming National Census would put to rest the
controversies surrounding the actual figures of out-of-school children.
Speaking in the same tone, Minister of State for Education Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu emphasized that all hands must be on deck to ensure that Nigerian children get the desired Education to prepare them for the future.
Dr. Sununu directed the UBEC Chief Executive to take the struggle for counterpart funding to the doorstep of State Governors explaining that an Uneducated Child was a clear danger to himself and society at large.
