Jane Salihu
The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunji Alausa, has announced a major shift in Nigeria’s strategy to tackle the country’s out-of-school children crisis, abandoning reliance on broad population estimates in favour of a nationwide household mapping exercise to identify every child currently outside the classroom.
Alausa disclosed the new approach during a meeting with the Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, saying the initiative would provide government with accurate, household-level data needed to design targeted interventions and improve school enrolment across the country.
He said the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), would adopt Kaduna State’s household mapping model across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to the minister, the exercise will identify where every out-of-school child lives and the households they belong to, replacing years of planning based on projections that often failed to reflect the true scale and location of the challenge.
Alausa explained that the new strategy was inspired by Kaduna State’s experience, where a comprehensive household mapping exercise revealed that the number of out-of-school children was significantly lower than previous estimates.
He noted that while earlier projections put the figure at about 585,000 children, the state’s verification exercise showed that fewer than 200,000 children were actually out of school.
“With this exercise, we now know where these children are and the households they belong to. That gives us the opportunity to work closely with the Kaduna State Government to bring them back to school,” Alausa said.
He commended Governor Uba Sani for introducing a data-driven model that has provided a clearer picture of the challenge and demonstrated how accurate information can improve planning and service delivery in the education sector.
The minister said the nationwide mapping exercise would enable governments to deploy resources more effectively, monitor progress and ensure interventions reach the children who need them most.
Governor Uba Sani, in his remarks, commended Alausa and the Minister of State for Education for championing reforms aimed at improving access to quality education. He also thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his commitment to the education sector, saying the Federal Government’s support has created momentum for meaningful reforms.
Alausa assured Nigerians that no child would be left behind, stressing that the nationwide household mapping exercise would provide the reliable data needed to identify, enrol and retain more out-of-school children as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
