Wike: No Accurate Figures on Out-of-School Children

Despite the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) putting the number of Nigeria’s out-of-school children at 10.5 million, the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said there are no accurate figures for the children or illiteracy figures.

He said this despite a 2012 status report by the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC), revealing that 38 per cent of 164,294,516 Nigerians are illiterate, representing 63,213,272 illiterate Nigerians.
Wike, speaking at a press briefing to mark the 2014 International Literacy Day tagged: ‘Literacy for Sustainable Development,’ in Abuja yesterday, said the absence of accurate data impedes developmental efforts of federal government in the education sector.

He also expressed worry at conflicting data evidence on the issue.

“If you ask the National Planning Commission, the data they will give you might be different from what the statistics bureau will have. It is quite worrisome, but a committee has been set up to see that we carry out the actual census, in terms of children who are in schools and those who are not in school,” he said.

Wike added that the federal government had done a lot to mobilise states towards attaining the goals of Education For All (EFA), however many states have refused to access their funds at the Universal Basic Education (UBE) because of their unwillingness to part with counterpart fund.

This, he said, might make the EFA goals unattainable as some of the funds remain un-accessed since 2010.

“If these funds are not accessed obviously it will affect the number of enrolment in schools,” he warned.

“The commitment of states into this programme is very serious and that is the only way we can achieve the goals in the non-formal sector, because due to the charter we have signed with UNESCO, we have tried to draw a blue print. It will be out of place for me to say we have achieved 90 per cent. Accurate data as I said is always a problem,” he explained.

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