“No 297, 000 out-of-school children in Osun”

The Osun State Government has dismissed reports claiming that the state has 297,000 out-of-school children, describing the information as false and a misrepresentation of facts presented at a recent education stakeholders’ engagement.

In a statement issued by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, the government said the figure circulating in some media reports did not originate from discussions held during a media dialogue jointly organised by the ministry and UNICEF.

According to the Permanent Secretary, the data presented at the event related solely to participation in educational programmes and not to the number of children outside the formal school system.

“We wish to clarify that at no point during the recently concluded media dialogue organised by the Osun State Ministry of Education in collaboration with UNICEF was the figure of 297,000 presented as the number of out-of-school children in Osun State.

“The figure presented during the programme was that approximately 97,000 learners have enrolled on the Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP) and Passport to Earn (P2E) platforms in Osun State. These figures relate to programme enrolment and participation, not to the population of out-of-school children.

“It is therefore surprising to see reports suggesting that the figure of 297,000 represents the number of out-of-school children in Osun State or that Osun has the highest number of out-of-school children in the South-West. Such a claim is malicious, damaging, and rejected in its totality, because neither such figure was presented nor attributed to the presentations during the programme,” the Permanent Secretary said.

The government explained that the Nigeria Learning Passport and Passport to Earn schemes were introduced to broaden access to education and equip children and young people with digital learning opportunities and practical skills.

Expressing concern over what it described as inaccurate reporting, the ministry urged journalists and media organisations to verify information before publication in order to avoid misleading the public.

The statement added: “While we appreciate the role of the media in informing the public, inaccurate reporting can create unnecessary misconceptions about the education sector in Osun State. We respectfully urge media organisations to verify their statistics before publication and ensure that reports accurately reflect presentations made at official events.”