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FG plans 13.6m school enrolment by 2020
Olabode Adaramola Minna
The federal government is planning to increase school enrolment in the country by 13.6 million children by the year 2020.
The Focal person of the federal government’s Social Intervention Investment Programme for Niger state, Mrs. Afiniki Dauda has said.
Mrs. Dauda who stated this in Minna the state capital also disclosed plans by the President Muhammadu Buhari -led administration at the Centre to ensure that the pupils were physically and mentally fit to face the rigours of not only
education but life itself.
The Focal person who however could not give actual figure of children presently in schools across the nation, said, “this is one of the reasons why the federal government introduced the home grown school feeding and Health Programme and other social security schemes”.
Dauda exchanging views with some selectef journalists after assuming office as the Focal Person for the federal government programmes in Niger state on Wednesday
said the Muhamadu Buhari – led All Progressives Congress( APC) administration is also determined to bring back into the school system 11.4 million children mostly girls.
The federal government is worried over the gender discrepancy in school’s enrolment which tends to favour the male against their female counterpart, Dauda said,
adding that the policy would, ‘prepare them for tomorrow and discourage them from being involved in crime’.
Niger state office of the federal government’s agency, according to the Focal Person had taken off, adding that the first activity to be performed is the flag-off the empowerment scheme for which participants in its first phase have been selected.
Participants were drawn from the three senatorial zones of the state based on the statistic on the poor and vulnerable of the society as recently provided by the World Bank, Dauda also pointed out just as she failed to give the exact number of beneficiaries under the first phase.
Dauda, who was however, quick to add that the agency would be fair to all stakeholders said the federal governments’ empowerment scheme in Niger would be flagged off next week because, ‘President Buhari is seriously committed to wiping out poverty from our country’.
While soliciting for the support and cooperation of Nigerians to actualize desired impact, Dauda said, ‘We need the cooperation everyone for these programmes to succeed.
