Senate President Ahmed Lawan, on Thursday said the upper legislative chamber will work to reduce the number of out-of-school children across the country.
He spoke after the Legislative Agenda for the ninth Senate was adopted.
Lawan said: “Today, the education sector suffers a lot. The 11 million or 12 million children out of school, we owe them that responsibility to do something about them. And that is taking us back to the implementation of the basic education Act.
“How do we ensure that we reduce and eliminate the number of out-of-school children on our street? Whatever name we have to give that programme, we have to do something, and government has to take responsibility.”
Lawan said the government, both at the federal and state levels, will have to create some funds to employ and train more teachers.
He assured that the upper chamber will work assiduously to implement its legislative agenda.
LAwan added: “This legislative agenda is particularly ours. We represent the people, we know their feelings, and we imagine that the legislative perspectives we have here may be slightly different from the executive perspective.
“But at the same time, we are going to serve the same people, and that is where the need for us to come together and to reconcile our thinking on taking Nigeria to the next level will be.”
The Senate resolved that it will tackle youth unemployment, poverty and reform of the educational sector, among other challenges facing the country.
The red chamber said it will channel its energy towards strengthening Basic and Technical Education by enhancing oversight on the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Act.
Meanwhile, Lawan also on Thursday commiserated with the family of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Ufot Ekaette, who died on Wednesday.
Lawan said “the late Chief Ufot Ekaette was a thorough-bred bureaucrat and statesman whose meritorious service to the country cannot be over-valued.”