The Federal Government has announced that it has enrolled 924,590 out-of-school children under Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme in Nigeria.
The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said this in his address delivered at the launching of the BESDA programme held in Dutse, the state capital, adding that “since the inception of the program Better Education Service Delivery for All Program has successfully enrolled 924,590 out of the previous figures of 10, 193, 918 out of school children in Nigeria.”
“While the federal government is making concerted efforts to reduce the numbers, more and more children are joining the queue. Therefore unless and until our efforts at enrolling these children outweigh the birth rate, the challenge will continue to stare us in our face,” Nwajiuba noted.
According to the minister, only education offers the child the opportunity to confront the enemy, defeat its armies and bring about the desired institutional challenges, stressed that for any country to develop it must, therefore, have a well developed educational system that equips its people and prepares them with adequate knowledge.
Also speaking, Jigawa State Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar his administration has excelled in the enrollment of out-of-school programme for better service delivery, stated further that they will do more and more to become first in Nigeria.
He pointed out that out of the 10.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria the state (Jigawa) has a significant number which has now become a thing of the past. He stressed that it has provided a conducive atmosphere of learning and teaching in addition to National Home School Feeding Programme which has encouraged children to attend schools.