The Federal Government on Tuesday said the country would need a huge sum of $345m annually to address the about 15 million out-of-school children across the country.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during the inaugural Federal Ministry of Education Private Sector Breakfast Convening held in Lagos.
According to the minister, the $345m figure is based on current per capita spending required to address the needs of the 15 million children currently outside the formal school system.
He disclosed that 25 per cent of children aged 5-14 were out of school in the country, with the figure rising to 41 per cent in the North-East and North-West regions.
Alausa emphasised that while the government had made significant strides through the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative, substantial additional investment is needed to complement public efforts.
“The challenges in the Nigerian education sector present a marked opportunity to increase access, improve quality, and enhance systems,” the minister stated.
He noted that education remains a central pillar of the “Renewed Hope” development plan, which targets a $1tn economy by 2030.
Alausa said to address the challenge of skilled labour, the government had so far disbursed N10.6bn to Technical and Vocational Education and Training centres across the country, and paid N3.4bn to trainees.
He explained that the government received 1.3 million applications for the TVET programme, 160,000 students matched to training centres nationwide and 72,000 students currently enrolled using verifiable biometrics.
The Federal Government has invested over N156bn to rehabilitate 18 medical schools and some engineering schools across the country, according to the minister.
“N70bn has been spent on laboratory and technology workshop rehabilitation, and N100bn on new hostels across 50 institutions,” he said.
Alausa also revealed that the government had set up the Student Venture Capital Grant, which is aimed at supporting innovation by Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine/Medical Science students.
He added that the Federal Government had set aside N50m equity-free grant, and 65 STEMM students had been shortlisted.
Alausa disclosed that the Federal Government was partnering with the Italian government to organise an educational conference, where $15bn will be raised to fund foundational learning in 90 countries across the world.
“And this conference is going to raise $5bn with another catalytic funding of about N10bn, with a total of $15bn to support foundational learning in 90 countries across the world,” he asserted.
The minister urged private sector leaders to align their resources with national education priorities through the upcoming Education Sector Wide Approach, which promises transparent reporting and strong governance.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Ahmad, described the convening as a strategic platform to deepen engagement with the private sector.
“Government alone cannot achieve the scale of transformation required. The private sector remains a critical partner in driving innovation, expanding infrastructure, and supporting skills development,” she said.
The ministry highlighted several achievements under the NESRI framework, including: the integration of 1 million children into formal education systems and the training of 1,400 Tsangaya teachers for Almajiri education, the mapping of 32 million students and 221,000 schools across 21 states to improve data and digitisation and the disbursement of N128bn in institutional fees through the Nigeria Education Loan Fund, benefiting over 1.1 million students.
To bridge the funding gap, the government is promoting the Global Partnership for Education Multiplier, an innovative tool that matches private contributions 1-to-1 with GPE and partner funds.
Evidence presented at the roundtable suggested that every additional year of schooling in Nigeria leads to a 5.7 per cent increase in earnings and a 6 per cent increase in productivity, underscoring the economic imperative of the proposed investment.
