…spends N66 billion on TVET programmes
The federal government says it has enrolled 1.2 million out-of-school children in classrooms over the past two years, while committing N66 billion to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), to expand education access and equip Nigerian with employable skills.
Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, disclosed this during Channels TV Politics Today live programme, titled “Education from A to Z Discussion,” highlighting the government’s efforts to address the out-of-school children crisis and strengthen skills development through technical and vocational education.
“Within two years, we’ve moved 1.2 million children back in school physically and with the consent of their parents.
“We are using school feeding, additional financing and other multilayer interventions to bring them to school, and retain them,” he said.
Alausa explained that while these children in school, the government ensures that they are given the highest quality of education, providing them with skills.
Besides, the minister said that the federal government has paid about N66 billion in indirect stipends to technical students, with each student getting N30,000 per month.
“We’re training 250,000 Nigerians in over 1,200 training centres across the country. The first cohort was about 36,000; they have graduated, and 50 percent of them are already employed.
“They are currently doing their skills evaluation, and we have gotten the private sector involved; for every student, we pay them N50,000 per student,” he stressed.
He emphasised that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is intentional about empowering Nigerian youth through access to education and acquisition of practical and employable skills.
To achieve the set goals, the minister said that the government is also supporting the teachers.
“We have Ignite, a cloud-based initiative where teachers can go and generate resources for their lesson plans. We’re also supporting the teachers’ support system.
“We’re paying for almost 50,000 teachers to upskill, and they’re latching on it,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Alausa disclosed that the federal government has deployed about N379 billion to support the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme.
“A student doesn’t need to know anybody to get the loan; just apply, and within two minutes, you get a response.
“The economic benefits of the student loan programme is very significant, with N192 billion in direct disbursement to students,” he noted.
He noted that some of the students who have gotten NELFUND loans send up to N10,000 to their parents in remote areas.
“Those parents and their siblings are feeding on loans, and that’s stimulating economic activity.
“We’ve disbursed about N180 billion in fees to them, and they are happy,” he said.
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