From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse
The federal government of Nigeria has yesterday flag-off the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) in Jigawa state.
Speaking shortly after flagging-off of the programme, the minister of state for education, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwajiubu said, about 17 states that include the entire 13 states of the North-West and north-east will get intervention to address the increasing number of out of school children.
An estimate of 10 million children are presently roaming the streets across the country while Jigawa is one of the worst affected by the menace while states of Rivers, Niger, Oyo and Ebonyi.
According to the minister, “ the selection of the states was based on the prevalence of the number of out-of-school children in those regions while emphasising that, “Jigawa is one of the worst hit in the ranking in Nigeria”, he declared.
Mr Chukwuemeka said the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) became effective on 22January 2018 with the commencement of implementation processes at the Federal government level.
He said each beneficiary state is expected to commence implementation in line with the specific steps and guidelines provided under the programme.
The Minister lament that even as there is nothing to cheer about when a single child is out of school, not to talk of the millions that are currently roan the streets, instead of being in the classroom learning.
He assured that out of school children will be returned soon as according to him, “learning is not only a moral and legal obligation, but also a productive investigate that will guarantee the future of our children and ensure that their rights are protected as enshrined in the child Rights act if 2003”, he stated.
On his part the state governor, Alhaji Muhammed Badaru Abubakar said the state government on its part has recruited 1,393 school teacher in 2018 while screening of 4,000 teachers under the J-teach programme is underway.
Alhaji Muhammed Badaru said the flagging-off and launching of the BESDA at this time is appropriate in view of the fact that reducing in number of out of school children is one of the 10 pillars of the ministerial strategic plan.
