From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government has organised the 5th National Alternative Steering Committee meeting to improve the national school feeding programme.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, in her address, encouraged participants to deepen their commitment towards improving the initiative.
Farouq assured Nigerians that the Federal Government, would not relent in ensuring that pupils get the best in terms of meals and education.
‘I would like to welcome you all again to the 5th meeting of the Alternate School Programme National Steering Committee.
‘I am encouraged by your continued commitment to this programme and our aims of helping the vulnerable Out Of School Children (OOSC) population.
‘As we are aware, developmental issues and challenges are interrelated; one example being the inability of OOSC to access education in part due to their socio-economic obstacles.
‘As such, we have aimed to tackle this problem in a multi-pronged fashion by not only providing educational opportunities to the OOSC but simultaneously providing them buffers against challenges that impede their ability to access education; for example, daily feeding for them when they are being educated by us and Conditional Cash Transfers for their parents to enable their active participation.
‘This will be done through the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs) under my Ministry and is a much-needed intervention for this vulnerable section of the population,’ she said.
The minister added that the ‘meeting, in particular, gives us the chance to hear from the Technical Working Group of the Alternate School Programme on their field expeditions to OOSC cluster sites.
‘These missions were undertaken to each of the six (6) geo-political zones of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory.
‘We will hear much-needed feedback on the beneficiaries, the environments and how the ASP can effectively be situated in these places.
‘It is hoped that these visits have given the Technical Working Group much-needed insight into how this programme can be scaled up on a national level in line with the wishes of Mr President; and how they can improve their designs on implementation for the imminent rollout of this programme.
‘The issue of Out of School Children (OOSC) affects us all as Nigerians and crafting a solution is an investment into all of our futures.
‘Being of a complex nature, OOSC populations are found across all tribes, in all locations and with varying priorities.
‘With a problem that is cross-cutting, the solution requires help from stakeholders at all levels. Our National Steering Committee and the Technical Working Group members we assigned are from the areas of Government, Civil Society and International Development Partners.
‘Each has been selected in the expectation of their unique value-add and commitment to working together in partnership.’