Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Tuesday, said 12 million children are out of school in Nigeria.
The minister said this in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State while addressing the Progressive Governor’s Forum at an official meeting.
The forum is made up of governors from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The meeting in Birnin Kebbi, is one of the forum’s many initiatives to deliberate on contending national issues.
It is also aimed at providing prompt solutions to national problems so Nigerians would enjoy good governance.
According to the minister, the situation has been worsened by the prolonged attacks in the North-east by Boko Haram insurgents.
According to him, over one million children have been displaced from the region, a situation he said was responsible for the country’s out of school children rising to 12 million.
Read more: Kebbi Set To Declare Education Emergency
“You must, therefore, take the issue of basic education in your states serious and ensure the embarrassing situation is arrested,” the minister told the APC governors.
Mr. Adamu reiterated the Federal Government’s resolve to make improvements on the education sector and reduce the alarming number of out of school children.
Also in attendance in the meeting was the Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun, who briefed the governors on the current state of the nation’s economy and government’s plans.
Before the latest announcement, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and UNICEF had pegged the country’s out of school kids at 10 million.
In its 2016 report, UNICEF had indicated that Nigeria, “feature in the top 10 countries with the highest primary out-of-school rates, painting a clear picture of how humanitarian emergencies and protracted crises are forcing children out of school.”
With the new figure, Nigeria still ranks among countries with the highest number of out of school children.
