The federal government has adopted Kaduna State’s household mapping model as the national framework for identifying and returning out-of-school children to school.
Under the new approach, the federal ministry of education, in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), will conduct a nationwide household mapping exercise across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The exercise is expected to establish the exact number of out-of-school children, their locations and the households they belong to, replacing reliance on broad estimates.
Tunji Alausa, minister of education, announced the adoption of the model during a meeting with Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, describing it as a significant step towards addressing one of Nigeria’s major education challenges.
Alausa said planning to tackle the out-of-school children crisis had for years been based largely on projections that did not accurately indicate where the children were located.
He said the new approach would provide verified household-level data to guide policy decisions and ensure interventions are targeted at children who need them most.
Using Kaduna as an example, the minister said previous estimates had put the number of out-of-school children in the state at about 585,000.
However, he said the household mapping exercise conducted by the Kaduna government showed that the actual figure was fewer than 200,000.
“With this exercise, we now know where these children are and the households they belong to. That gives us the opportunity to work closely with the Kaduna State Government to bring them back to school,” Alausa said.
The minister commended Sani for introducing the model, saying it had provided a clearer picture of the scale of the problem and demonstrated how accurate data could improve decision-making and service delivery in education.
He said the federal ministry was already working with the NBS to replicate the methodology nationwide.
According to Alausa, the exercise would provide the government with the information needed to improve planning, deploy resources more effectively and monitor progress in reducing the number of out-of-school children.
Sani commended Alausa and Tunji Alausa, minister of state for education, for the reforms being implemented in the sector, describing their leadership as encouraging and inspiring to state governments.
The governor also thanked President Bola Tinubu for his support for education, saying the federal government’s commitment had created momentum for reforms across the country.
Sani reaffirmed Kaduna’s commitment to working with the federal ministry to expand access to quality education, describing education as one of the most important investments any government can make.
He expressed satisfaction that Kaduna’s household mapping exercise had been adopted as a national model.
Alausa assured Nigerians that no child would be left behind in efforts to expand access to education.
