.jpeg)
The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has called for equal attention to the educational needs of boys and girls, stressing that every Nigerian child must be given the opportunity to contribute to the country’s human capital development.
Alausa made the call in Abuja while receiving the newly appointed United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Country Representative to Nigeria, Prof. Isaiah Barreto Da Rosa, who paid him a courtesy visit.
The Minister said although the Federal Government would continue to consolidate gains made in girl-child education, emerging challenges affecting boys also required deliberate policy attention.
He disclosed that more than one million out-of-school children had been returned to classrooms within the last 20 months, while close to 6.7 million girls had benefited from government interventions aimed at improving school enrolment and retention.
According to him, the Federal Government’s education transformation agenda is built around six key priorities: Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), reintegration of out-of-school children, data and digitalisation, girl-child education and quality assurance.
Alausa said the government was also investing in skills development, technology and teacher capacity, with data being deployed to identify gaps, design targeted interventions and assess their impact.
He welcomed UNESCO’s technical support for teacher development, highlighting the Accelerated Teacher Professional Programme, which aims to train one million in-service teachers.
The Minister also acknowledged UNESCO’s contributions to TVET assessment, digital transformation, education for peace, and media and information literacy.
Earlier, Da Rosa reaffirmed UNESCO’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s ongoing education reforms, describing the organisation as a technical partner prepared to provide expertise in areas identified by the Federal Government.
He said UNESCO’s partnership with Nigeria, which dates back to the 1960s, had supported several areas, including TVET, teacher development, peace education, science, culture, communication and information.
Da Rosa disclosed that UNESCO-supported programmes had trained more than 28,000 teachers across various states and reached over 1.7 million students.
He commended the Ministry of Education for its progress in digitising education data and expressed UNESCO’s readiness to deepen collaboration in TVET, teacher capacity development and the reintegration of out-of-school children.
Alausa assured the UNESCO representative that the Ministry would sustain its partnership with the organisation to achieve measurable outcomes and advance President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s education reform agenda.
The engagement further underscored the Federal Government’s emphasis on inclusive education, skills development and stronger international partnerships to address Nigeria’s educational challenges.