The Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, has said the federal government is collaborating with state governors to tackle the menace of out-of-school children in the country.

Alausa disclosed this on Tuesday during the 2025 budget defence session of the joint Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.

He said the ministry had met with the state governors and all the six commissioners for education, including FCT to find lasting solutions to the problem.

“We are working together on this. So, it now has to be a collaborative effort on what we have to do. The number of out-of-school children is mind-boggling and disturbing. It is not in just one geopolitical region; it is everywhere.

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“We need to confront it, else, we will be consumed by it. We have to engage with our governors and we have held a meeting with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum on how to collaborate on this,” he said.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Sen.  Muntari Dandutse, said, “As lawmakers, we have a constitutional responsibility to ensure that resources allocated to this critical sector are strategically planned and utilised.”