President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja inaugurated an 18-member Presidential Steering Committee on Alternate School Programme (ASP) co-chaired by the Ministers of Humanitarian Affairs and Education.
He directed the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to coordinate and lead the deployment of a national plan to address the issue of out-of-school children in the country.
He said it was unacceptable to see children abandoning formal schools to engage in menial jobs and child labour in the markets, streets and workshops.
Buhari said the national plan would ensure a holistic and comprehensive inclusiveness of appropriate basic education for vulnerable children.
“To commence this special education initiative, emphasis should be given to first provide a limited scope of subjects in Mathematics, English language, Basic Science and Social studies. Gradually, the initiative will be scaled up to ensure the acquisition of relevant technical skills in the process that can enable the beneficiaries to participate in gainful economic activities,” he said.
He listed the terms of reference of the committee as including “refining and focusing the vision of the initiative; ensuring engagement and effective uptake of the ASP initiative across the country, reviewing and approve all work, implementation plan, expected deliverables, feedbacks and reports as proposed; and undertaking any other task that can enhance the effective delivery of the initiative by the ministry.”
