By Gom Mirian
The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboyi, on Monday, said the estimated number of children not attending school in Nigeria is no longer accurate.
Bobboyi who said this in Abuja at a one-day colloquium, organised by the Commission in honour of late Professor Gidado Tahir, the former executive secretary, UBEC tagged: “The Nigerian Child: Dynamics of Educational Opportunities.”, added that the completion of a comprehensive census is necessary to obtain accurate information on the number of children not enrolled in school across the country.
He said: “So we are engaging in this. We have to do it in the interest of the basic education sector and its development in Nigeria. The need for the National Population Commission to conduct a census which will help UBEC in carrying out their functions.
“The only disappointment is on one issue that I needed to raise. You cannot get the number of out of school children from there for the simple fact that you need the population figures of the various age groups from the National Population Commission and the National population Commission has not provided this.
“The estimate they have been making is no longer relevant so that is the reason while we are very desperate for a national census that can give us an idea of our accurate population,” said Bobboyi, adding that “The results of the National Personnel Audit are almost ready. We hope to launch both the National Assessment of Learning as well as the personnel audit in July thereabout-out.”
