Over 3000 prisoners enrolled in degree programmes at NOUN | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
12th March 2020
Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, has disclosed that more than 3,000 inmates of the Nigeria Correctional Service have enrolled for various degree programmes at the National Open University of Nigeria.
Adamu, who made this known in Abuja, said the Federal Government is already leveraging on technology to deliver quality education to the citizenry.
He stated that technology was what makes it possible for inmates in the correctional facilities to acquire university education through the nation’s foremost distance learning institution.
“As of 2019, more than 3,000 of them were enrolled for different degrees. Indeed, our investment in technology to deliver functional education that connects to contemporary needs and bridge knowledge gaps in our school systems is already beginning to bear the desirable fruit,” he said.
The minister said the government is currently implementing a policy aimed at increasing globalization driven by Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
According to him, this will involve the development of a vibrant ICT sector to drive and expand the national production frontiers in agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors.
He added that it would also require the application of the new knowledge to drive other soft sectors: governance, entertainment, public service, media and tourism, among others.
Adamu said: “As part of our commitment to transforming the education sector in Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Education, in partnership with the states’ ministry of education, is intensifying various efforts to bring into the formal education, various categories of out-of-school children that have been hitherto left out of that critical service.
“We believe that the future we are building will be of no significance if we do not build the people who will occupy it.
“The present educational programme for the almajiris in the North is a typical case in our efforts, and it is one part of that great labour to which we are unreservedly committed.”
EduCeleb.com earlier reported that the Federal Government of Nigeria had secured a loan facility of N220 billion through the World Bank under the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) project to help tackle the problem of out-of-school children.
Also, it is working on obtaining an additional N45 billion grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to address the menace of out-of-school children.