By Gabriel Dike, Lagos

The Federal Government on Wednesday said with the efforts put in place by the administration such as the basic education service delivery for All (BESDA), among other initiatives, the number of out-school-kids in the country has been reduced drastically and could not have been as high as 20 million as claimed by UNESCO recently.

The Director, Senior Secondary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Hajia Binta Abdulkadir, made the declaration in Lagos while speaking at the annual summit of the Education Writers Association of Nigeria, EWAN.

Abdulkadir explained that the claim by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) that the country currently has 20 million out-of-school kids is not correct.

According to her, BESDA, which is in 17 states of the federation, has brought at least four million children back to school.

“The federal government has taken a number of steps that have greatly reduced the figure in recent times. BESDA is one of the steps and through it, we have got over four million children back to school in no fewer than 17 states of the federation,” she said.

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The director recalled that UNESCO earlier this month, revealed that Nigeria now has about 20 million out-of-school kids. It said there were 244 million children and youth between the ages of six and 18 worldwide who were still out of school.

According to the statistics, India, Nigeria and Pakistan have the highest figures for out-of-school children globally. The figure in Nigeria was between 10.5 and 13.5 million. But with the insecurity and kidnapping of school children, most parents are not disposed to send their wards to school.

The Lagos State Government, the sponsor of the event, said it has always taken the issue of quality education provided in a secure environment serious.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, who represented Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, explained that the issue of safety should be a collaborative effort between all stakeholders.

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, in his message to the summit, commended EWAN for the theme of the event.

The Chairman of EWAN, Mr Mojeed Alabi, said the theme was chosen to draw attention to the importance of the safety of stakeholders in schools.