The Federal Government has commenced an automated data collection initiative aimed at enrolling no fewer than 500,000 out-of-school children across the country.
This initiative will be carried out by the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC) in collaboration with other partners to address the growing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
The Acting Executive Secretary of NMEC, John Onimis while speaking on Tuesday, August 19, at the commencement of a two-day training for enumerators on the data collection tools said, the initiative has been designed to ensure enrollment of more than 500,000 learners in the first phase of the programme.
Onimisi, who is also the coordinator of NMEC Needs Assessment Team said the initiative will help capture data on young Nigerians aged 15 and above who have for one reason or another dropped out of school or were never enrolled in any form of literacy programme.
According to him, with this process, this population of youths can have an opportunity to continue their education or vocational training.
“Our target is to ensure that these learners are enrolled on non-formal learning centres and are able to complete the programme successfully.
“Some may also transit to vocational programmes after completion,” Onimisi said.
He further stated that some of the actions which would be taken to achieve this feat include conducting a needs assessment in line with the commission’s mandate to identify youths and adults for Adult and Non-Formal Education (ANFE) and conduct a mapping of activities needed to reduce the number of out-of-school children and youths in 36 states and the FCT among others.
Noting that the initiative will cover the entire 775 local government areas of the country, Onimisi said that 376 enumerators from the 36 states and the FCT had been onboarded.
There are also a total of 250 facilitators who would drive the exercise in Abuja with real-time monitoring through a dashboard linked to the National Identity Management System to ensure proper tracking and follow-up of learners.
The initiative, Onimisi said would run in phases, with the first literacy cycle lasting between six to nine months, depending on the contact hours.
“This is the first time since the 2010 National Literacy Survey that NMEC will be conducting such a large-scale data exercise, and the delay has largely been due to funding constraints,” Onimisi said.
He also commended the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa and the Universal Basic Education Commission for supporting the intervention.
Also speaking on the sidelines of the event, NMEC’s Director of Programmes, Samuel Aziba said the training would empower the enumerators with the skills needed to use the automated data collection devices.
He said, “This training is basically on getting the enumerators equipped with skills and knowledge on how to use automated tools to collect data from the field.
“It’s a nationwide exercise and we are not alone in this. We have the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education and the Nomadic Education Commission involved,” Aziba noted.
He also said that the pilot testing of the programme would begin in four locations within the FCT before the nationwide rollout.
