{
  "id": 6380488,
  "title": "One Million Out-of-school Children Returned to Class in 20 Months, Says Alausa",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/one-million-out-of-school-children-returned-to-class-in-20-months",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-09T03:59:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "This Day",
    "slug": "this-day",
    "url": "https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/09/09/one-million-out-of-school-children-returned-to-class-in-20-months-says-alausa/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The federal government of Nigeria has successfully returned over one million out-of-school children to classrooms within a span of 20 months, according to the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa. This development was disclosed during a meeting with Professor Isaiah Barreto Da Rosa, the newly appointed UNESCO Country Representative to Nigeria, who was on a courtesy visit to Abuja.\n\nDuring the meeting, Alausa urged university vice-chancellors to diversify funding sources and enhance advancement offices, warning that government allocations alone were insufficient to sustain tertiary institutions. He emphasized that universities must thrive on blended funding, including research grants, endowments, alumni donations, philanthropy, and industry partnerships. Currently, only four out of 68 federal universities effectively utilize such alternative funding sources.\n\nAlausa revealed that nearly 6.7 million girls have benefited from government interventions aimed at enhancing access to education and keeping them in school, as part of the broader government efforts to overhaul the education sector. He underscored the importance of ensuring that no child is left behind, irrespective of gender or background, and listed the Federal Ministry of Education's priority areas as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), STEM, reintegration of out-of-school children, data and digitalization, girl-child education, and quality assurance.\n\nThe minister also expressed appreciation for UNESCO's technical support in the Accelerated Teacher Professional Programme (ATPP), which aims to train one million in-service teachers. He welcomed UNESCO's assistance in TVET assessment, digital transformation, education for peace, and media and information literacy, urging the organization to align its interventions with Nigeria's reform priorities. Alausa assured UNESCO that the federal government would continue to combine domestic resources with strategic international partnerships to drive education reforms, focusing on expanding access, improving quality, and equipping children and young people with the necessary knowledge and skills for national development.",
  "summary": "• Seeks deeper UNESCO support for education reforms • Minster urges VCs to diversify funding, as FG demands stronger advancement offices Kuni Tyessi in Abuja The federal government said it",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}