The Federal Government has stepped up efforts to reduce the number of out-of-school children by activating completed Smart, Bilingual and Alternative Schools that have remained unused across the country.
To drive the initiative, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, on Tuesday inaugurated a ministerial implementation and monitoring committee in Abuja.
The committee has been tasked with ensuring that the completed schools become fully operational and begin enrolling pupils.
The initiative forms part of the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which seeks to improve access to quality basic education by ensuring that investments in school infrastructure result in effective teaching and learning.
Speaking during the inauguration, Alausa stressed that completed school projects must no longer remain unused or fail to fulfil the purpose for which they were built.
“Infrastructure alone does not educate a child. A completed building without pupils is simply an empty structure. A furnished classroom without teachers remains an idle investment,” the minister said.
He noted that while the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) had invested heavily in establishing Smart, Bilingual and Alternative Schools, implementation challenges had prevented many of the facilities from operating as intended.
According to the minister, the newly constituted committee will supervise the process of transforming the completed facilities into fully functional schools by ensuring outstanding works are concluded, schools are handed over, teachers are deployed, pupils are enrolled and progress is continuously monitored.
“Every day a completed school remains locked represents lost opportunities for thousands of Nigerian children,” Alausa said.
He added that the committee’s performance would be judged by the number of schools successfully providing education rather than the volume of reports it produces.
“Success will not be measured by the number of reports submitted, but by how many schools are actually teaching Nigerian children.”
As part of its responsibilities, the committee will work with state governments, State Universal Basic Education Boards and other stakeholders to provide furniture, instructional materials and essential services such as electricity, water supply and internet connectivity. It will also facilitate the deployment of teachers and ensure pupils are admitted into the schools.
UBEC introduced the Smart Schools initiative to enhance basic education through technology-driven learning.
These schools feature digital classrooms, internet connectivity and interactive learning facilities aimed at promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, while also improving digital literacy.
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The commission also established Bilingual Schools to encourage multilingual learning and strengthen national unity.
Alternative Schools, on the other hand, were designed to provide flexible learning opportunities for out-of-school children, girls, street-connected children and other vulnerable groups unable to attend conventional schools.
Despite these investments, many of the facilities have remained underutilised due to delays in handover, inadequate staffing and slow operationalisation in several states.
Describing the situation as unacceptable, Alausa insisted that public investment in education must deliver tangible outcomes.
“Every classroom will count. Every school will function. Every investment will deliver value,” he said.
Nigeria continues to have one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children globally, with millions of school-age children, especially those living in rural and conflict-affected communities, still lacking access to formal education.
Education stakeholders have repeatedly maintained that addressing the challenge requires not only building new schools but also ensuring completed facilities are fully operational, adequately staffed and accessible.
The Federal Government expressed confidence that bringing the Smart, Bilingual and Alternative Schools into operation would widen access to quality basic education for vulnerable children, while improving accountability for investments in the education sector.
The minister also directed the implementation committee to immediately begin working with UBEC, state governments, contractors and other relevant stakeholders to fast-track the activation of the schools nationwide.