Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda Targets Education Gap with 15 Million School Kit |LAGOS EYE NEWS

Nigeria has launched a nationwide education support drive aimed at tackling the country’s out-of-school crisis, distributing 15 million learner kits to vulnerable children across the federation.

The initiative, led by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), forms part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. According to her, the programme is designed to ease the financial burden on families and encourage millions of children back into classrooms.

Each Learner Support Kit includes a school bag, exercise books, pencils and sandals basic materials many families struggle to afford. Authorities describe the intervention as a direct response to Nigeria’s high number of out-of-school children, one of the largest globally.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, UBEC Executive Secretary Aisha Garba said the distribution marks a critical step under the Commission’s Learner Support Programme (LSP).

“Access must translate to opportunity. Enrollment must translate to retention. Support must translate to learning,” she said, underscoring the need for sustained engagement beyond initial school registration.

Garba added that the Commission’s policies and partnerships are centred on what she called its “one client the Nigerian child.”

“This initiative reinforces our commitment to ensuring that no Nigerian child is left behind due to lack of basic learning materials,” she said. “Through strong collaboration with states and SUBEBs nationwide, we are taking deliberate steps to expand enrollment, improve participation, and strengthen the foundation of basic education across the country.”

Nigeria has long grappled with barriers to basic education, particularly in rural and conflict-affected regions, where poverty remains a key driver of school dropout rates.

“Education is not a privilege, it is a right. And we are acting on it,” Garba said.