The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Alausa, has said the administration of President Bola Tinubu was committed to strengthening non-formal education as part of efforts to tackle unemployment and empower Nigerian youths.
Alausa stated this during a special plenary session moderated by His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the ongoing Education World Forum in London, United Kingdom, UK.
The session focused on the importance of non-formal education, soft skills and industry participation in improving employability and individual well-being.
Other panellists at the session included the Minister of Education, Ontario, Canada, Paul Calandra; Secretary of State for Education, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Raquel Teixeira; and International Youth Representative of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award Foundation, Andrea Chakma.
Alausa, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah, noted that the Federal Government was intensifying efforts to empower out-of-school children through informal education while equipping students in formal institutions with entrepreneurial and vocational skills.
He said, “What we are doing in Nigeria is because we have a lot of out-of-school children, we have to find a way that we can quickly get them a kind of non-formal education.
“We’ve created a separate curriculum for them called the accelerated basic education program, which ties them to what they should be learning in school.
“We’ve heavily focused on technical vocational education, which is still a form of formal education but in a non-formal setting to give people who have gone to school other skill sets that they can use to benefit themselves, benefit their community.”
The minister explained that the government had introduced several programmes targeted at out-of-school youths, adults and vulnerable groups to bridge literacy gaps and improve economic inclusion.
He listed some of the initiatives to include the Technical and Vocational Education and Training initiative, which offers tuition-free vocational training, stipends and start-up support, as well as the National Policy on Skills Development aimed at integrating hands-on training, digital literacy and vocational skills into learning pathways.
Others, according to him, were mass literacy and adult education programmes as well as the Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education programme designed to integrate traditional Quranic education with basic and vocational training.
Alausa further said the government had infused entrepreneurship and innovation training into school curricula to prepare young people for the future economy.
“We have also now infused what we call entrepreneurial training in these kids. Whatever level of courses they are studying, they go through our entrepreneurship, innovation business certification to equip them with the skills they need to be able to function and do things differently.
“We are also looking at the area of digital technology to train them and equip them with digital skills.
“The whole goal of what we are doing here is to really get them the skills. Skills for the present and skills for the future. We are also looking at the other special abilities our teaming youths have.”
The minister also commended the Duke of Edinburgh for visiting Nigeria in November 2025 and noted that Nigeria remained part of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award Foundation.
