…Launches BETA To Improve School Enrolment
The Federal Government has hinted that arrangements are being made to extend the conditional cash transfers to 2.2 million poor and vulnerable households before the end of this month.
Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Tanko Sununu, made this disclosure on Monday when he featured as a Guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.
According to him, the National Social Safety-Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) is currently compiling names from the National Social Register to guarantee transparency and fairness in the process.
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He assured: “In the next few days to come, before the end of August, we are going to reach out to 2.2 million households.”
Sununu explained that initiative was part of ongoing efforts of the government to mitigate the impact of policy-induced economic hardships on vulnerable Nigerians.
Meanwhile, the government has also launched the Basic Education Transformation Agenda, another poverty-mitigating reform initiative designed to boost school enrollment and improve learning outcomes in the country
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who launched the agenda in Abuja at the weekend, said BETA introduced Conditional Cash Transfers to mothers to encourage consistent school attendance.
He pointed out that “The initiative tied conditional cash transfers to mothers to encourage school attendance and introduces a Back2School Drive in partnership with the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, under which the government bears the full cost of enrollment during official handovers.
Specifically, the minister said the programme was targeted at chronic challenges in the sector, including out-of-school children, weak technical training, poor infrastructure, outdated curricula, and low teacher capacity, adding that to achieve the objective of training five million youths within the next four years, teachers will be retrained on relevant areas.
Alausa disclosed that 270 technical teachers had been trained in digital and trade-specific skills in Ibadan, while 6,000 senior secondary school teachers are undergoing training in artificial intelligence.
He confirmed that to improve technical and vocational education nationwide, the government had approved N120 billion for the training programme
According to him, effective from the 2025/2026 academic session, students in federal and state technical colleges will enjoy free tuition, feeding, boarding, uniforms, and protective gear, as well as a N22,500 monthly stipend.
This is even as he further disclosed that N80 billion had been earmarked for the rehabilitation of unity schools, while 38 federal and state technical colleges are also undergoing the same process
Alausa maintained to align higher education with manpower needs in health, energy, and technology, the Federal Government had introduced the STEMM Nigeria Agenda covering Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medical Sciences, amongst other initiatives aimed at building a strong, technical skilled manpower for the nation’s development and global competitiveness.
