The Minister of State, Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said that Nigeria has the highest number of Out-of-School Children in sub-Sahara Africa.

Mr Nwajiuba stated this during the inauguration of “Better Education Service Delivery For All (BESDA)”, in Katsina on Monday.

He announced that Nigeria had an estimated 10,193,918 children out school.

According to him, “the current challenges affecting the Nigerian education system has left much to be desired, the system is characterised by high illiteracy level, infrastructural decay and deficits.”

“We have inadequate number of qualified teachers, inadequate infrastructural facilities/resources and poor funding,” he added.

Mr Nwajiuba congratulated the Katsina State governor, Aminu Masari, on his giant strides to reposition education in the state.

He said “this is a clear demonstration of leadership quality and personal commitment to education as well as the passion to revitalise the sector to develop the abundant human capital of the state.”

The minister stated that BESDA focuses on 17 states, “13 of which are in the North-west and North-east geopolitical zones, and Niger, Oyo, Ebonyi and Rivers.

In his remarks, Governor Masari commended the Federal Ministry of Education and the Universal Basic Education Commission “for their foresight and commitment in evolving laudable programmes for the development of the education sector in particular and the development of society in general.”

Agency Report