The Minister of State for Education Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba says Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr Nwajiuba stated this during the inauguration of ‘Better Education Service Delivery For All (BESDA),’ in Katsina on Monday.

He said Nigeria had an estimated 10,193,918 children out of school.

According to him, the current challenges affecting the country’s education system leave much to be desired. The junior minister said high illiteracy, infrastructural decay, and deficits characterised the system.

“We have an inadequate number of qualified teachers, inadequate infrastructural facilities/resources, and poor funding,” he added.

Mr Nwajiuba, however, congratulated Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina on his “giant stride to reposition” education in the state.

He noted that “this is a clear demonstration of leadership quality and personal commitment” to education as well as the passion for revitalising the educational sector to develop the abundant human capital of the state.

The minister further stated that BESDA focused on 17 states in the country, including all 13 states of the North-West and North-East geopolitical zones, Niger, Oyo, Ebonyi, and Rivers also included.

In his remarks, Mr Masari commended the federal ministry of education and the universal basic education commission for their foresight and commitment in coming up with laudable programmes for the development of the education sector in particular and the development of society in general.

The programme started in 2018.

(NAN)