Alausa Unveils Data-Driven Plan to End Out-of-School Crisis

The Federal Government has unveiled a data-driven strategy to tackle Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis, adopting Kaduna State’s household mapping model as the national framework for identifying and returning children to classrooms.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunji Alausa, announced the initiative during a meeting with Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, saying the new approach would replace years of estimate-based planning with verified household-level data.

Under the initiative, the Federal Ministry of Education, working with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), will conduct a nationwide household mapping exercise across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to determine the exact number of out-of-school children, where they live and the households they belong to.

The minister said the exercise would enable governments at all levels to design targeted interventions and deploy resources more effectively to ensure children are enrolled and retained in school.

Alausa described the initiative as a major milestone in efforts to solve one of Nigeria’s biggest education challenges, noting that previous interventions had often relied on projections that did not accurately reflect realities on the ground.

“For many years, planning was based largely on estimates that could not accurately show where out-of-school children were located. This exercise changes that by providing verified information that will guide policy decisions and ensure interventions are directed to the children who need them most,” he said.

Using Kaduna as an example, the minister said earlier estimates suggested the state had about 585,000 out-of-school children, but a comprehensive household mapping exercise carried out by the state government showed 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 added.

He commended Governor Uba Sani for pioneering what he described as a practical model that has provided a clearer understanding of the challenge and demonstrated how accurate data can improve planning and service delivery in the education sector.

According to the minister, the Federal Ministry of Education has already commenced collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics to replicate the Kaduna methodology nationwide.

He expressed confidence that the nationwide exercise would provide governments with reliable information to strengthen planning, improve resource allocation and monitor progress in reducing the number of out-of-school children.

In his remarks, Governor Uba Sani praised Alausa and the Minister of State for Education for what he described as bold reforms being implemented in the education sector.

He also commended President Bola Tinubu for prioritising education under the Renewed Hope Agenda, saying the Federal Government’s commitment had created fresh momentum for meaningful reforms across the country.

Sani reaffirmed Kaduna State’s commitment to working closely with the Federal Ministry of Education to expand access to quality education, expressing satisfaction that the state’s household mapping initiative had been adopted as a national model.

The governor described education as one of the most important investments any government could make, adding that accurate data would enable authorities to reach vulnerable children more effectively.

Alausa assured Nigerians that the Federal Government remained committed to ensuring that no child was left behind, stressing that the nationwide household mapping exercise would provide the accurate data needed to identify, enrol and retain more out-of-school children through stronger collaboration with state governments and development partners.