Federal Govt Targets Enrollment of 500,000 Out-of-School Children
- The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government has taken action towards fixing the out-of-school children menace
- The federal government commenced an automated data collection initiative to enroll at least 500,000 out-of-school children across the country
- The Acting Executive Secretary of NMEC, John Onimisi, shared more details about the initiatives
Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 8 years of experience covering basic and tertiary education in Nigeria and worldwide
FCT, Abuja - The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government has targeted enrolling at least 500,000 out-of-school children across the 36 states of the country, including the FCT.
To achieve this, the federal government commenced an automated data collection initiative on Tuesday, August 19, 2025.
Source: UGC
The Acting Executive Secretary of NMEC, John Onimisi, said the initiative has been designed to ensure enrollment of more than 500,000 learners in the first phase of the programme.
Onimisi stated this while speaking at the commencement of a two-day training for enumerators on the data collection tools.
The National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC) will carry out the initiative in collaboration with other partners to address the growing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
Onimisi explained that the initiative will help capture data on young Nigerians aged 15 and above who have dropped out of school or were never enrolled in any form of literacy programme.
The coordinator of the NMEC Needs Assessment Team said the initiative will afford the young people an opportunity to continue their education or vocational training.
“Our target is to ensure that these learners are enrolled in non-formal learning centres and can complete the programme successfully.
“Some may also transit to vocational programmes after completion.”
He explained that the initiative would run in phases, with the first literacy cycle lasting between six to nine months, depending on the contact hours.
According to Onimisi, the initiative will cover the entire 775 local government areas of the country.
He disclosed that 376 enumerators from the 36 states and the FCT had been onboarded.
There are also a total of 250 facilitators who would drive the exercise in Abuja with real-time monitoring through a dashboard linked to the National Identity Management System to ensure proper tracking and follow-up of learners. The
“This is the first time since the 2010 National Literacy Survey that NMEC will be conducting such a large-scale data exercise, and the delay has largely been due to funding constraints.”
Nigeria tops global ranking with 18.3M out-of-school children
In a similar story, Legit.ng reported that about 18.3 million children have no access to primary education in Nigeria.
UNICEF made this disclosure recently as it decried the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
The Chief of the Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Tushar Rane, provided solutions and urged the current government to do the needful.
Source: Legit.ng
