Sixty per cent of the over 10.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria are girls, according to Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
It’s executive secretary, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi said the commission would soon set up Cluster Learning Centres for the Girl Child (CCLCGs) as part of efforts towards addressing and paving way for improved and inclusive basic education delivery across the country.
Bobboyi spoke at a roundtable convened for the development of a framework for the proposed CCLCG intervention.
He said the roundtable came on the heels of renewed calls for strategic focus on the education of the girl-child, which according to him accounts for 60 per cent of all out-of-school children in Nigeria.
He noted that the cluster learning centres would increase access and quality of basic education delivery for the girl-child, especially in the northern states.
While declaring the two-day exercise open, UBEC executive secretary, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, represented by UBEC director, teacher development, Mallam Unwaha Ismaila, emphasised the importance of developing a framework as an additional incentive towards tackling challenges associated with the out-of-school challenge.
He pledged the Federal Government’s readiness to continue to implement programmes that would increase access and ensure equity, especially for the girl- child.
He expressed optimism that the various scholars and resource persons invited to the roundtable would develop a workable document that could be readily implemented at all levels towards improving girls’ education in Nigeria.
At the opening session of the roundtable, participants noted that the challenge of out-of-school children was a recurring decimal with the girl-child bearing the larger brunt of this challenge.
They commended UBEC for the proposed CCLCG initiative and urged states to scale up strategies and approaches that focus on the acquisition of literacy, numeracy and, importantly, the acquisition of relevant skills.