The World Bank has approved $611 million for the purposes of helping Nigeria address the increasingly worrisome problem of out-of-school children in the country.
Disclosing this in Abuja at the 2017/2018 annual school census exercise, the Bank’s Education Specialist and Consultant, Adebayo Solomon, said that the exercise would be carried out in the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
According to him, the initiative by the Breton Woods institution was designed to support the national and sub-national governments in their efforts to promote education inclusion in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Federal Government.
Solomon disclosed that the funds would be provided through the Better Education Service Delivery for All Programme, which was aimed at bringing out-of-school children currently estimated at about 10.5 million, into the classrooms.
The banking expert said: “We are working with the National Bureau of Statistics to ensure that some data is verified. Immediately there is verification, each school will collect $30 dollars, and each state government will collect $100,000.”
Commenting on the census exercise, the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who inaugurated it in Abuja, said the data was necessary for the delivery of quality and all-inclusive education in the country.
On the modalities of carrying out the exercise, Adamu explained that enumeration of all schools, pupils, teachers and facilities in the basic and post-basic school levels in 36 states and the FCT would be commenced simultaneously nationwide.
He decried the failure of some state governments, agencies of government and private schools to conduct the enumeration exercise in the previous years based on its specified guidelines, urging them to comply fully with those guidelines in the current exercise.
Adamu said: “I will also urge for cooperation and full participation of the military, para-military and private schools, both registered and unregistered, almajiri centres, and integrated Koranic schools in this exercise so that we can explore and improve all school environments in order to begin to solve the problem of out-of-school children.
