FG Targets 500,000 Out-of-School Children, 1m Girls in Literacy Drive

The Federal Government has launched two nationwide literacy and empowerment initiatives aimed at reducing Nigeria’s out-of-school population, with a target of enrolling 500,000 learners and reaching one million underserved girls.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, Acting Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC), Dr. John Onimisi, said the commission had begun training enumerators on automated data tools to identify children and youths who either dropped out or never had access to school.

According to him, the phased programme will be implemented across all 774 local government areas, enrolling 500,000 learners in the first phase while offering both literacy and vocational training.

“Our target is to ensure that learners are registered in non-formal centres and successfully complete the programme. Some will also progress to vocational skills training afterwards,” Onimisi stated.

So far, 376 enumerators from the 36 states and the FCT have been trained, while 250 facilitators will oversee the exercise in Abuja. He added that progress would be monitored in real time through a digital dashboard linked to the National Identity Management System.