By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

Federal Government yesterday announced that the new education policy it fashioned out for the country would compel private schools at all levels to drastically reduce their fees.

The Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman who stated this at the maiden quarterly Citizens and Stakeholders Engagement on Nigerian Education Sector Ministerial Deliverables“ organised by the ministry in Abuja said government remodeled education policy to be unveiled in August captured all the ingredients that make the nation’s education sector stand at par with that of advanced nations.

He said the government has come up with measures to reposition the nation’s education sector, adding that “by the time we’re done, private schools will run out of business and scale down money they charge our students.

Speaking on fake certificates, the minister said, “Talking about accreditation of certificates, some two, three months ago, the issue of fake certificates flooding the country and a high-powered inter-ministerial committee was set up.

“That committee is rounding off its work. And from what I heard, we have major breakthroughs about fake certificates flooding this country.

“So, as we promised earlier on, once we get the report, not only will it help the ministry strengthen its recognition and accreditation of certificates but those who patronize fake certificates will have themselves to blame.

“This is because we are going to trace them with the help of security agencies, to their employers so they are all flushed out of the system and in appropriate cases investigated.”

The minister mentioned many successful strides recorded by his administration since assumption of office under the ministry’s 23 deliverables handed down by President Bola Tinubu to his ministry.

According to him, the mechanism established by the ministry for inter governmental relations has helped in building public private partnerships, brought about an increment in school enrollment, transition and completion for learners especially those with disabilities.

Mamman who noted that the reduction of out of school children in Nigeria was one of the major focus of the current administration, gave assurances that before the end of the year, many more children out of school would be brought back to acquire learning and skills.

He said, “2million out of school children, Almajiri’s were enrolled in basic education and an Arabic literacy programme with vocational training; developed the guidelines and training manuals for the implementation of inclusive basic education Nigeria.

“These have increased access, enrollment and retention, completion of basic, secondary and tertiary school levels.”

The minister revealed that in the last six months, 70,674 teachers and non-teaching staff from across all levels of academic and non-academic training institutes were trained; 2,122 students were awarded Nigerian scholarships, 2,889 students studying abroad benefitted from bursary awards amongst other scholarships.

In addition, the minister revealed that the ministry was at the verge of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with a private firm on the PPP model to overcome the challenges of data confronting the education sector.

While lamenting that students were receding into illiteracy, Mamman said one way to address the learning crisis in the country is to infuse skills and digitisation into the education system beginning from primary schools.

To this end, he said there is need to review the curriculum to accommodate new teaching methods that give room for skills and digitisation.

“We cannot go into the next century with this situation; students who cannot think, who cannot communicate amongst themselves, who cannot collaborate, who don’t have these soft skills and have problem with access to digital facilities.

“That’s why we have so many out of school children because first, they don’t see the value of going to school so we want to introduce skills and digitization from primary school.

“Those of us who went to school especially 60s, 70s were beneficiaries of what was then called Comprehensive Secondary School where. There was a section on commerce and there was a separate section on trades.”

The minister who described the recent kidnap of three students of the University of Calabar as sad, said government was developing a safe school agenda with a view to giving protection to schools and students.

The minister said the government was working assiduously with security agencies to secure the release of the students unhurt.

He promised that the ministry will engage the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to roundly fence the school for adequate protection.

Also speaking, the Commander, National Safe School Response Coordination Centre, Dr Hammed Abodunrin said it is time the country takes security of the citizens seriously.

Abodunrin said there is need to give security education to the citizenry, noting that the centre in collaboration with the education ministry is ready to take-off security education in schools.

On his part, Dr Mikayla Ibrahim, Education Adviser of the British High Commission said the UK Government has supported Nigeria’s basic education through the implementation of the GEP III project.

According to him, the GEP project has giving about 1.5m girls access to learning.The GEP project, he said, has also worked well in the Reading and Numeracy as well as the Cash Transfer Programme.