FG Launches Nationwide Household Mapping to Identify Out-of-School Children

FG Launches Nationwide Household Mapping to Identify Out-of-School Children
Nationwide exercise will provide verified data to improve education planning and interventions.
Government expects reliable data to help enrol and retain more children.

The Federal Government has adopted Kaduna State’s household mapping model as the national framework for identifying out of school children across Nigeria.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Thursday after meeting with Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the development was contained in a statement issued by the minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah.

Under the new framework, the Federal Ministry of Education, in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics, will conduct a nationwide household mapping exercise across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The initiative is expected to replace broad estimates with verified data showing the exact number of children out of school, where they live and the households they come from.

Alausa said the exercise would provide reliable information to guide education planning, support targeted interventions and ensure that government resources reach children and communities most in need.

He described the initiative as a major step towards addressing Nigeria’s long standing out of school children crisis.

“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,” the minister said.

Alausa said previous education planning had relied heavily on projections and estimates, which did not always provide an accurate picture of the situation.

He cited Kaduna State, where earlier estimates placed the number of out of school children at about 585,000. However, the state’s household mapping exercise reportedly found fewer than 200,000 children in the category.

The minister commended Governor Sani for pioneering the model and said the Federal Government was already working with the National Bureau of Statistics to replicate the methodology nationwide.

Governor Sani welcomed the adoption, describing education as “one of the most important investments any government can make.”