Senate Calls For National Summit Over Out-Of-School Children
In an attempt to significantly resolve the syndrome of out-of-school children, the Senate has called for a nation summit after briefings with President Bola Tinubu.
This resolution was taken during plenary after the submission of report of the Committee on Education (Basic & Secondary) on the compelling need to tackle the challenge of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Usman Lawal Adamu, representing Kaduna Central disclosed that over 2 million out-of-school children have been enrolled in the last one year through the collective efforts of the Agencies of the ministry working on out-of-school children education.
In a robust debate by over 20 Lawmakers, the out-of-school children menace was identified as a time bomb, demanding solutions that transcends that of the Federal Government alone.
While some lawmakers called for a proper handshake between the national and sub-nationals, particularly on the issue of access of the UBEC funds, others like Senator Ahmed Lawan raised the idea that significant funds from the 2025 budget be allocated for the sole purpose of tackling the out-of-school challenge.
According to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, out-of-children have become potential bandits, exacerbating the need to curb the crisis.
The senate unanimously adopted the resolution for a national summit.