The Executive Secretary NCAOOSCE, Dr. Muhammad Sani Idris, has handed over a list of 16,310 out-of-school children in Benue State to the State Government

The children form part of over 700,000 out-of-school children recently mapped by the Commission across the country.

The handover took place during the maiden Benue State Summit on Basic Education held in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

Dr. Idris disclosed that Benue State is the first in the federation to formally accept the Commission’s data after expressing readiness to enroll the identified children back into school. According to him, following the nationwide mapping exercise, the Commission wrote to all state governments seeking partnership to facilitate the enrollment of the affected children. However, several months later, Benue remains the only state that has partnered with the commission.

He commended the Governor of Benue State, His Excellency Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, for his passion and commitment to improving education in the state. The Executive Secretary also praised the Executive Chairman of the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board for her dedication and dogged efforts toward transforming the basic education sector.

In his remarks, Governor Alia expressed appreciation to the Commission for conducting the mapping exercise in the state and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ensuring that no child in Benue is denied access to education. He pledged to collaborate with all education stakeholders to achieve inclusive and equitable basic education.

The Governor emphasized that education in all public primary and junior secondary schools in Benue State remains free from Basic One to Basic Nine. He noted that his administration has recruited over 9,700 teachers, ensured consistent payment of salaries, and implemented the harmonized retirement age for teachers, as part of broader reforms aimed at strengthening the education sector.

The Benue State Government has already commenced the enrollment process, beginning with 500 of the identified children. The state plans to continue enrolling the children in batches of 500 until all 16,000 are fully integrated back into the school system.