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| Vice President Yemi Osinbajo |
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the introduction of free and compulsory education by Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has triggered an educational revolution in the North and the country.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of a two-day Stakeholders Summit on Free and Compulsory Basic and Secondary Education organised by the state government, Osinbajo said: โKano is eminently positioning to trigger educational revolution around the northern region and Nigeria in general and the Federal Government must steam the tide to make it workable.โ
According to Osinbajo, the administration of Muhammadu Buhari has made heavy commitment to invest in human capital and that is why any support to education development is being viewed with all seriousness.
He said the Buhari administration is feeding 9.8 million children daily during school hours, noting that this clearly shows full commitment of the government in ensuring basic educational development.
The Vice President added that very soon, the Federal Government will soon meet its target of feeding 15 million school children daily.
He said Buhariโs administration is continuously working in tandem with the state governments to equip primary and secondary schools across the country with needed infrastructures so as to provide a conducive environment for learning.
Ganduje said the objective of the summit was to discuss, analyse, and generate ideas towards the implementation of the vision for free and compulsory basic and secondary education in the state.
The governor noted that โon the assumption of office for the second term on May 29, 2019, we made a policy statement and commitment to provide free and compulsory education from primary up to senior secondary level. This is in recognition of the pivotal role of education as the primary agent of change in our society.
โ It is disturbing to note from available statistics that Nigeria has over 10.5 million out-of-school children. It is also more alarming to note that 60 per cent of that figure represents the girl-child.
โAlso, eight million of those out-of-school children are in 10 northern states of Nigeria with Kano having the lion share. Regrettably, available figures indicate that over three million of these out-of-school children are in Kano.
โHowever, a recent survey revealed that most of these children are Almajiris from other northern states and children from the Republic of Niger, Chad and the northern part of Cameroun.โ
Ganduje called for regional coordination and legislation that will enable the control of the influx of Almajiris from neighbouring countries and also from state to state.
Dignitaries who attended the event include representatives of the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, the British High Commission, French Ambassador to Nigeria, DFID, World Bank, United Arab Emirate Ambassador to Nigeria, Saudi Arabia Ambassador to Nigeria, UNICEF, among others.
They pledged their support for the project.
