Federal Govt. Plans To Feed Out-of-School Children, Pay Their Parents

The Federal Government has disclosed plans to commence daily feeding of school children as part of measures to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the country.

In addition to the feeding, the government also said the parents of children who are out of school will be given a monthly stipend under its Conditional Cash Transfer scheme to boost the participation of the kids.

From the recent UNICEF report, it is estimated that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children with about 12million kids.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, disclosed this in Abuja on Monday at the 5th meeting of the Alternate School Programme National Steering Committee.

She said, “As we are aware, developmental issues and challenges are interrelated, one example is the inability of out-of-school children to access education in part due to their socio-economic obstacles.

“As such, we have aimed to tackle this problem in a multi-pronged fashion by not only providing educational opportunities to this children but simultaneously providing them buffers against challenges that impede their ability to access education; for example, daily feeding for them when they are being educated by us and Conditional Cash Transfers for their parents to enable their active participation.

“This will be done through the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs) under my Ministry and is a much-needed intervention for this vulnerable section of the population.”

The Minister, while acknowledging the impact of out-of-school children on society, said it will take the intervention of all stakeholders to address the challenge.

Farouq added, “The issue of Out of School Children (OOSC) affects us all as Nigerians and crafting a solution is an investment into all of our futures.