The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, has appealed to security agencies to rescue students of the University of Calabar kidnapped on Monday, around the school community.
The Minister, who was speaking in Abuja at a quarterly Citizens’ Engagement Forum, hinted that to ascertain the actual number of students and teachers in Nigerian schools, a census is scheduled before the end of 2024.
The minister also revealed that over two million out-of-school children have been returned to the classroom.
President Bola Tinubu’s threat to remove inactive ministers may just be responsible for a Citizens’ Engagement Forum, organised by the Ministers of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman and Yusuf Sununu.
The focus is to roll out 23 items to be achieved before the end of 2024.
They include data, quality teaching and improved learning.
Already, the government boasts of returning about two million out-of-school children back to the classroom within six months, out of the 22 million, contained in the UNESCO 2022 report.
As Nigerians keep fingers crossed over the 23 items the education ministers intend to achieve in the years ahead, the lean budgetary allocation to the sector remains a source of concern.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)