SAN FRANCISCO, November 06, (THEWILL) – Supervising Minister of Education, Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike has declared that the Jonathan administration will continue to increase investments in the basic education sub-sector until it eradicates the out of school children challenge bedeviling the nation.
A statement emailed to THEWILL from the office of the Minister said he made the commitment in Paris on Wednesday during a bi-lateral meeting with Mr. Baligh Ur Rehman, the Pakistani Minister of Education, where Wike stated that the Jonathan administration will complete 300 Almajiri schools by 2015 to ensure that a large percentage of the Almajiri children are accommodated in schools.
He stated that the Jonathan administration remains committed to sustaining the incentives for the Almajiri Children to remain in school after their enrolment.
“President Goodluck Jonathan through his deputy inaugurated another set of Almajiri schools last week, which brought the number in use to over 100. Our target is to ensure that by 2015 we have 300 schools constructed by the administration to cater for the needs of the Almajiris.
“In the South-East and the South-South we have commenced the construction of special technical and vocational schools to cater for the need of the boy-child. This is in addition to the special schools the administration is constructing for girls in parts of the north to improve their enrolment in schools,” Barr. Wike said.
He assured the Pakistani Minister of Education that Nigeria will continue to partner with his country and other E-9 countries for the creation of access to quality education for the less privileged children. The Minister stated that Nigeria will participate in this year’s E-9 Conference to be hosted by Pakistan in December.
In his remarks, the Pakistani Minister of Education, Mr Baligh Ur Rehman sought the cooperation of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Education in the area of creation of access to basic education since both countries have similarities in that regard.
He stated that based on Nigeria’s experiences in this area, his country would appreciate collaborations with the country in the highest level of governance in order to share best practices.
Earlier, the Supervising Minister of Education participated in the Leaders Forum of the 37th Session of the UNESCO General Conference. At the meeting the minister noted that the Nigerian Government has committed itself to using education as a tool for the empowerment of the less privileged.
The President of Costa Rica, Ms Laura Chinchilla, the President of Tunisia, Mr Moncef Marzouki and the President of Lithuania, Algirdas Butkevicius addressed the UNESCO Leaders conference.
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