Abuja / Uyo — The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has rolled out a multi-pronged intervention to combat Nigeria’s persistent out-of-school children (OOSC) problem, launching regional enrolment drives, new infrastructure projects, and collaborative frameworks to boost access, retention, and completion of basic education.

What UBEC Is Doing

At a South-regional flag-off of the enrolment drive in Uyo, UBEC Executive Secretary Hajiya Aisha Garba (represented by her Special Assistant) emphasized the commission’s intention to ensure that every school-age child is enrolled, retained, and completes the basic education cycle.

Key UBEC initiatives include:

Working with UNICEF to develop a national Framework of Action on Out-of-School Children — a roadmap for states and communities to innovate enrolment strategies and follow shared best-practices.
Rolling out a three-year reintegration plan (2025-2028) aimed at bringing 10 million out-of-school children back to the classroom, constituting a 70% reduction in the national OOSC challenge.
Expanding access to basic education through infrastructure improvements: UBEC said it has worked with State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) to build over 3,700 classrooms, set up 34 “Model and Smart Schools”, and distribute more than 142,000 units of furniture — benefiting over 181,000 learners to date.
Supporting teacher professional development (TPD) and strengthening stakeholder participation in school governance through School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs).

UBEC also reaffirmed its alignment with government education priorities, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4) on inclusive, equitable, quality education and the “Renewed Hope Agenda” of the presidency.

Why This Matters

Nigeria still has one of the highest populations of out-of-school children in the world. UBEC’s initiative signals more than a symbolic push: it combines infrastructure, stakeholder mobilization, teacher training, and targeted reintegration efforts under a nationally coordinated plan.

If well executed, the drive could:

Address long-standing bottlenecks to access, especially for girls, marginalized communities, and nomadic populations.
Strengthen the link between federal policy and state / community action — especially via SUBEBs and SBMCs.
Lay a foundation for better educational equity by improving physical learning environments, recruiting and training teachers, and mobilizing community responsibility for school retention.

What Could Stand in the Way

That said, the success of UBEC’s plan will depend on several things going right:

Consistent funding and political will — past enrolment drives often stalled when budgets dried up or political priorities shifted.
Effective coordination with states — even excellent federal programs falter if state governments, SUBEBs, and local authorities don’t follow through or commit resources.
Local adaptation and community ownership — simply mobilizing children to enrol isn’t enough if households don’t believe education is safe, culturally acceptable, or economically worthwhile — particularly for girls or children with disabilities.
Retention strategies, not just enrolment — brute-force enrolment drives must be paired with policies that address dropout risks: poor school infrastructure, teacher shortages, hidden costs (uniforms, transportation, learning materials), and weak learning quality.

Educator’s Perspective

For headteachers, school boards, teacher unions, and educational NGOs, UBEC’s renewed focus on out-of-school children is a clear call to action. Schools in underserved areas should engage community leaders, parents, and traditional authorities to support local enrolment campaigns.

That could involve everything from hosting open-enrolment “registration days,” to offering catch-up classes for older children, to collaborating with SBMCs to monitor drop-outs and re-enroll them. Teacher training and infrastructure investment will help, but community buy-in — especially from parents, local religious leaders, and women’s groups — may prove the linchpin for success.

If UBEC can sustain momentum, secure state-level buy-in, and mobilize community participation, its plan to reduce OOSC by 70% in three years may be ambitious — but not impossible.