The Albino Foundation has called on the Federal Government to establish accurate data on the actual number of out-of-school children in the country.
President of the Foundation, Mr Jake Ekpele, gave the charge when he led a delegation on a working visit to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry Education, Arc. Sonny Echono in his Office in Abuja.
A statement made available to The AUTHORITY in Abuja by Mr Ben Goong, a deputy director and spokesman of the Ministry, said the Foundation expressed its readiness to collaborate with the Federal Government to establish the actual data of out-of-school children.
“Ekpele was emphatic that the Foundation has the capacity to bring out the accurate data of out-of-school-children in the endemic states in less than three months if given the opportunity,” the statement said.
According to the Foundation’s president, establishing the exact number of out-of-school-children would help government and relevant stakeholders in designing strategies that will degrade the problem to manageable proportions.
Responding, the Permanent Secretary, acknowledged the Foundation’s effort in partnering with the Federal Government to win the war on poor school enrolment.
He, however, emphasized the importance of funding in carrying out such data collection exercises, adding that the Ministry is constrained by inadequate budgetary allocations to carry out a complete census of out-of-school-children.
Echono called on the leadership of the Foundation to send in its proposals for harmonization with other stakeholders who have also shown interest in the same partnership.
