17m Nigerian Children Still Out Of School – UBEC

The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has disbursed N22 billion to state governments to train 224,000 teachers and education managers in all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This is even as UBEC revealed that Nigeria still has about 17 million out-of-school children.

Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja during the national flag-off of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) School-Based Management Committee-School Improvement Programme (SBMCSIP) and the Teacher Professional Development (TPD) activities, which are being funded using the Federal Government/UBE intervention fund.

While breaking down the disbursement, Alausa explained that each state would receive N598 million for targeted training in key areas to improve quality education under the UBEC teacher professional development programme.
The minister also announced the disbursement of N2 billion to about 1,147 school-based management committees across all 36 states, including FCT.

According to him, the money would support over 15,000 different improvement projects, which are focused and will be directed towards the renovation of classrooms, purchasing furniture, building workshop facilities, and improving security in schools.
Each school-based management committee received a cheque of N1.8 million at the event, where the minister disclosed that the investment would reach over 56,000 schools and impact more than 17 million learners.

He reaffirmed the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration toward ensuring that every child, no matter where they are born, deserves access to quality education delivered in a safe, functional, and supportive environment.

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Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad, on her part, noted that the national flag-off of the SBMCSIP programme was a testimony of the government’s resolve and commitment to providing the enabling atmosphere for individuals and groups to make valid contributions to the improvement of basic education and ultimately national transformation.

The executive secretary of the UBEC, Aisha Garba, earlier in her welcome remarks, said more than 17 million school-age children remain out of school, especially in rural and low-income communities across the country.

She noted that even though the basic education sector has made some level of progress, serious gaps still persist. She lamented that about 17 million school-age children remain out of school, especially in rural and low-income communities across the country.

“While enrolment rose by 7 percentage points between 2016 and 2021, access to education has not expanded to all. About 17 million children remain out of school, especially in rural and low-income communities. And only 9% of children aged 7–14 in rural areas demonstrated age-appropriate reading skills.

“These numbers are more than statistics—they are a call to action for urgent, targeted investments in infrastructure, teacher development, to expand equitable access to all parts of Nigeria,” she said.