Nigeria has created a separate curriculum called the accelerated basic education programme to reach millions of out-of-school children through non-formal education.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during a special plenary session moderated by His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the ongoing Education World Forum in London, United Kingdom.
“What we are doing in Nigeria is because we have a lot of out-of-school children, we have to find a way that we can quickly get them a kind of non-formal education. We’ve created a separate curriculum for them called the accelerated basic education programme, which ties them to what they should be learning in school,” the minister said in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah.
He explained that the President Bola Tinubu-led government, through the education ministry, is relentless in its push to empower out-of-school children through informal education while also equipping those in formal education with entrepreneurial skills, which is also part of non-formal education.
Alausa told the forum that Nigeria’s government has a wide array of informal education programmes targeting out-of-school youths, adults, and vulnerable populations.
These initiatives, he said, are designed to bridge literacy gaps, provide vocational and technical skills, and integrate less privileged or marginalised groups into the economy.
The minister said the government has also heavily focused on technical vocational education, which he described as a form of formal education delivered in a non-formal setting to give learners other skill sets they can use to benefit themselves and their communities.
“Most of our youths are in schools and we as a government have to find a way to give them other forms of non-formal education while they are within the formal setting,” he said.
Among the programmes highlighted was the TVET initiative, a flagship programme by the Federal Ministry of Education offering tuition-free vocational training, stipends, and start-up support to close skills gaps and boost entrepreneurship.
He also cited the national policy on skills development, which promotes flexible learning pathways by integrating hands-on training, digital literacy, and vocational skills for out-of-school youths and adults.
Other efforts include programmes for mass literacy, adult and non-formal education, which coordinate nationwide functional literacy, post-literacy, and continuing education programmes.
Alausa also spoke on the Almajiri and out-of-school children education, which focuses on integrating the traditional Quranic system with basic and vocational skills training.
“We have also now infused what we call entrepreneurial training in these kids. Whatever level of courses they are studying, they go through our entrepreneurship, innovation business certification to equip them with the skills they need to be able to function and do things differently,” he said.
He added that the ministry is also looking at digital technology to train and equip youths with digital skills.
“The whole goal of what we are doing here is to really get them the skills. Skills for the present and skills for the future. We are also looking at the other special abilities our teaming youths have,” the minister said.
The special session also had the Minister of Education, Ontario, Canada, Paul Calandra, the Secretary of State for Education, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil, Raquel Teixeira, and International Youth Representative, DofE International Award Foundation, Andrea Chakma as panelists. The discussion centered on the importance of non-formal education and soft skills, and how industry can be involved to support individual wellbeing and basic employability.
