This news was culled from the Tribune Nigeria
Out-of-school children: UBEC committed to enhancing access, equity, transition to higher levels — Bobboyi
THE Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboyi has reassured Nigerians that the Commission will persist in providing the necessary leadership and commitment towards enhancing opportunities for improved access, equity and transition to further levels of learning.
Bobboyi said this in Lagos at the stakeholders’ engagement for the finalisation and adoption of the National Framework of Action for Addressing the Out-of-School Children (OOSC) phenomenon in Nigeria.
He said that governments at all levels annually make reasonable provisions for basic education delivery, lamenting, however, that in spite of those interventions, the number of out-of-school children still remains worrisome.
The 2018 National Personnel Audit (NPA) conducted by UBEC in the basic schools across the country estimated the out-of-school children in Nigeria at 10.2 million.
The UBEC boss lamented that the out-of-school challenge has continued to impede education sector and has become a negative reference on the country’s educational development and aspirations.
He commended United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for addressing the challenges as well as the Federal Ministry of Education, and its related parastatals for lending a helping hand and are providing complementary interventions.
According to him, the meeting was the culmination of the Federal Government and other stakeholders’ resolve to address the out-of-school challenge.
He maintained that the stakeholders’ engagement was organised primarily with the sole intent of rekindling national consciousness on the importance of education as the foremost instrument and bedrock of all f developments.
He added that the engagement readily demonstrates UBEC and UNICEF’s commitment to playing very vital roles in sensitising and advocating collective efforts in addressing “this very unacceptable trend.”
“The UBEC boss said: “In a bid to reinforce its mandate for providing strategic interventions in all the sub-sectors of the country’s educational space, the Federal Government has continued to emphasise the need for a deliberate investment and proactive implementation of strategic interventions that will address notable education service delivery challenges.”
Bobboyi reaffirmed that the stakeholder engagement was a collective desire to finalise, adopt and implement recommendations of the October 2022 national conference on out-of-school children.
He noted that the organisers of the engagement were optimistic that inputs from stakeholders would ensure the evolution of a comprehensive and effective framework that can address the root causes of the out-of-school phenomenon in the country.
He challenged all the participants to remain focused on the prime objectives of recommending best practice that can ensure an improved access and quality of education for all categories of the out-of-school children.
Acting Director, Social Mobilisation, UBEC, Dr Ossom Ossom, said the interaction was the high point of UBEC’s collaborative engagement with UNICEF towards charting the course for the improvement of access to basic education for vulnerable groups within the school age population.
He added that the collaboration was a direct response to increased national and global concerns over Nigeria’s growing out-of-school challenge and the need for a prompt review of the approaches for addressing the threat especially at the state level.
