A stakeholder in the education sector, Ibrahim Bukar Tijjani, has urged the Federal Government to extend the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to cover primary and secondary school pupils across the country.
Tijjani made the appeal in an open letter, saying the current intervention had significantly reduced financial hardship for students in tertiary institutions but left millions of children at the lower levels of education without support.
He said NELFUND, signed into law on April 3, 2024, had already disbursed more than N206 billion to about 1.16 million students in public tertiary institutions nationwide.
According to him, the intervention has enabled children from poor families to remain in school and complete their studies without financial pressure.
“Children of farmers, traders, drivers and widows now write examinations without being chased out of halls,” he said.
Tijjani noted that while the scheme had improved access to higher education, many Nigerian children were still unable to complete basic education due to poverty and inability to pay school-related charges.
He cited statistics showing that Nigeria currently has over 10.5 million out-of-school children.
According to him, many children drop out at primary or junior secondary school level because their parents cannot afford levies, uniforms and textbooks.
He argued that the situation had denied millions the opportunity to qualify for tertiary education and benefit from NELFUND.
Tijjani, therefore, called for the establishment of a Basic Education Support Fund using the same digital and verification framework adopted by NELFUND.
He said the proposed intervention should focus on supporting pupils in public primary and secondary schools through payment of approved levies, uniforms and learning materials.
“The only way for all citizens to access education from primary to tertiary level is to act now and make education support total,” he said.
He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for introducing NELFUND and urged the government to expand the initiative to strengthen access to education for vulnerable children nationwide.
