By Kamil Opeyemi
The Federal Executive Council on Monday approved the establishment of 37 new private universities across the country following a memo presented by the Ministry of Education.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu while briefing journalists shortly after the emergency Federal Executive Council, FEC presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo saying that with the approval, private universities in the country are now 72.
Adamu stated that the approval was given considering the importance of education in bolstering the economic fortunes of the country.
On his part, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the Council also approved the Universal Implementation of the Employee Compensation Act (ECA) 2010.
He explained that the law is operated by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), noting that it is a replacement of the old Employee Compensation Act that was known as “Workmen Compensation”.
According to him, the Council has approved it for universal implementation, “meaning that apart from the private sector, that is already implementing, the public sector, which is government – federal, state and local governments – have now to adopt this for the protection of their workers”.
Also speaking, Sadiya Umar Farouq, minister of humanitarian affairs, said the federal government has recorded a rise in school enrollment nationwide but silent on the specific numbers.
Farouq said the government aims to enrol every out-of-school child by 2030.
According to her, government has approved a budget of over ₦14 billion to train beneficiaries of the N-Power project.
She said the council also approved a policy on the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) which seeks to address the issues of education, health, social protection and agriculture.