Adamu Proposes 3 Ministers For Education Sector

Minister of education, Adamu Adamu, has urged the incoming leadership of the country to ensure that the Federal Ministry of Education has three ministers, instead of two.
Adamu, who stated this yesterday at the ongoing 66th National Council on Education (NEC) meeting in Abuja, also called for the establishment of two ministries of education – ministry of basic education and ministry of higher education.

He also called for the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Skill and Entrepreneurship to address the challenges facing the youths.

Currently, the Federal Ministry of Education has two ministers, the minister of education and the minister of state for education, who is a junior minister.

But Adamu told NEC that there should be a minister of basic education and minister in charge of higher education to oversee affairs of the two levels of education in the country.

Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening of Security and Safety in Nigerian Schools for the Achievement of Education 2030 Agenda,” Adamu admitted that he failed as a minister as he could not solve the challenges of the sector.

He also blamed state governments for the continuous rise in the number of out-of-school children in the country, lamenting that they were not complementing the government’s efforts in tackling the menace.

Adamu called on all states to rise up to their responsibilities and provide a safe and secure learning environment for both students and teachers.

“I already blamed states for the continuing number of out-of- school children. Actually, the reality is that the measures taken by the Ministry of Education is taking millions of out-of-school children out of the streets.

“I recommended to the president that there should be two ministries of education, ministry of basic education and ministry of higher education, and if they don’t want to create another ministry, at least they should have two ministers of state – one for basic education, one should be in charge of higher education.

“I hope whoever is heading the next government will have a good sense to create the ministry of skills and entrepreneurship and if it will not be created, there should be three ministers of state in the ministry of education. We need a ministry for that.

“Also, I want to tell states that they are not doing enough on school safety. I know it is a general menace but states should start doing what the ministry of education is doing,” he said.

While saying it is the responsibility of governments to uphold the right to education for all by ensuring that all barriers are removed, he added all hands must be on deck to strengthen the security of educational institutions.

He said, “On security and safety in educational institutions distinguished delegates, despite government’s best efforts and numerous interventions in the past, we are still confronted with the challenge of out-of-school children, which, in part, is the result of the general insecurity in our society, which has now arrived at our institutions following a spate of incessant attacks against public and private schools.”

Despite the challenges, Adamu said a lot of success had been recorded in the transformation of adult literacy learning spaces with up to 9,810 literate learners through the creation of access to three basic literacy centres in three senatorial districts and one senatorial district in the FCT, among other areas.

In her speech, the chief education officer, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Saadhna Panday-Soobrayan, said attacks on schools and violence in and around schools are having devastating short and long-term consequences on the wellbeing of children and communities.

She said getting children into school and keeping them there is therefore critical to end the security challenges in the country.