The ever increasing out-of-school children’s number and the eighteen years benchmark for admissions into tertiary institutions were among the biggest stories in Nigeria’s education sector in 2024.
As we review the activities that shaped the country’s education in 2024, the amount budgeted for the school feeding programme in the 2025 proposed budget is already taking the lead in issues that may generate controversy in the education sector in the new year
The target of the Nigerian government to reduce the huge number of children of school age who are out of school led to the establishment of the almajiri and out of school children education commission in 2024.
The figure currently stands at over 20 million.
This effort also led to increased funding for the newly established senior secondary education commission. It came into being primarily to address drop outs in post junior secondary education and improve standards.
Despite these efforts, UNICEF and other development partners are concerned that beyond the problem of out of school children, there is a learning crisis among children 5 to 14 years, who are in school.
Terror attacks on education institutions reduced in 2024. A few ones were recorded in Kuriga school in Kaduna State and other places.
This, apparently forced the federal government to appeal to states to set up the safe schools response coordination Centres.
MUST READ: Nigeria Education Sector In 2024
Bullying in Nigerian schools has also been a concern in 2024. A viral video of a schoolgirl bullying another student in a school in Abuja as well as another boy who faced bullying in a federal school in Enugu sparked public outrage.
Professor Tahir Mamman was sacked as education minister. Many are of the view that he was relieved of his appointment for his insistance on the controversial 18-year age limit for admission into tertiary institutions as from 2025. The policy was, however, reversed by the education minister Tunji Alausa immediately on assumption of office.
Another controversial policy of the former education minister is the declaration of over twenty thousand certificates obtained from some universities in Benin Republic and Togo as fake. This action was given thumbs up by his successor.
In spite of the promise of President Bola Tinubu that the era of strikes in tertiary institutions are over, there were pockets of industrial actions in university of Abuja, Nnamdi Azikiwa University, Some polytechnics and some colleges of education
The Academic Staff union of polytechnics, ASUP in the year under review downed tools over scheme of service.
In 2024, the president appointed new executive Secretaries for the National Universities Commission, NUC, and the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC.
On a positive note, the Nigerian government launched a roadmap for the education sector, which outlines strategies for improving education from 2024 to 2027.
This may explain why the sector recieved the third largest allocation in the 2025 budget proposal by president Bola Tinubu.
As Nigerians look forward to a more progressive education sector in 2025, the government will have to contend with the pending workers welfare issues in tertiary institutions, reducing the out of school children number and addressing issues of inadequate funding.
