- By Dr. Gentle Emelah
As Commissioners of Education from across the country gather for the Nigerian Governors Forum program State-Level Solutions to Foundational Learning and Out-of-School Children, one truth must guide our deliberations: Nigeria’s out-of-school crisis cannot be solved by access alone. Building classrooms or hiring teachers is only part of the solution. The deeper challenge lies in what happens inside those classrooms.
Too many children are dropping out of school not because schools are out of reach, but because schools are not working. When learners sit in class for years without gaining basic literacy or numeracy skills, families begin to disengage. And when parents lose confidence in what public education can deliver, enrolment stalls and dropout rates rise.
Bayelsa is taking a different path. With the launch of BayelsaPRIME (Bayelsa Promoting Reforms to Improve and Modernise Education), we are confronting the core issues that keep children out of school. We are not just focusing on access. We are building public trust in public education by ensuring that every child who walks into a classroom learns, and learns well.
In just 19 instructional weeks, BayelsaPRIME has achieved a 20 percentage point reduction in the number of Primary 1 pupils unable to read a single word. This is not anecdotal. It is data-backed evidence of system-level change. More crucially, it is beginning to reverse the national trend. While declining enrolment has been acknowledged as a challenge in Nigeria due to learning poverty and weak school quality, Bayelsa’s public school enrolment has grown from 25,000 to over 40,000 pupils. And we are gaining more children each term than we lose.
This increase is not the result of a mass enrolment campaign. It is the natural effect of building a system that works. Parents are making the choice to bring their children back into the school system because they are seeing real learning take place.
His Excellency, Governor Douye Diri, has been clear in his vision. Bayelsa is not interested in paper qualifications without substance. We are investing in science, technical and foundational learning to produce young people who can thrive in the future workforce. Digital tools, structured lesson plans, and real-time monitoring are not luxuries. They are necessary to ensure quality and equity, particularly in a state like Bayelsa where the challenges of oil pollution, seasonal flooding and low population density require adaptive and resilient solutions.
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At the Education World Forum earlier this year, Governor Diri spoke about these reforms in an interview with Times Higher Education. He made it clear that education is central to socio-economic progress, and that any government failing to prioritise it risks undermining national stability.
It was also at that global forum that Bayelsa had the opportunity to share its education transformation at the ICESCO High-Level Ministerial Dialogue, in front of ministers from 53 member states. We demonstrated how Bayelsa is using foundational learning reform to respond to climate challenges, improve system visibility, and strengthen public confidence.
As we engage in peer learning during this workshop, Bayelsa is not claiming to have all the answers. But we are proving that real change is possible when learning is placed at the centre of education reform. We are showing that it is possible to reverse the out-of-school crisis not just by building more schools, but by making existing ones deliver better outcomes.
To my fellow Commissioners and leaders in basic education, the solution to our out-of-school crisis begins with restoring credibility in public education. Foundational learning is not just an education priority. It is a national imperative. Every child who walks into a classroom deserves the chance to learn, succeed, and build a better future.
Let this workshop be more than a dialogue. Let it be a turning point where we move from admiring the problem to applying practical, data-driven solutions that keep children in school and help them thrive once they are there.
- Dr. Gentle Emelah is the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Bayelsa State
