The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that the number of out-of-school children at primary school level in Nigeria has reached an alarming rate of 10.2 million with 16 percent from the North-West region of the country.
Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Kano, Rahama Farah made the disclosure on Friday while commemorating the 2025 International Day of Education (IDE) in Kano.
Referring to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2021) report, Farah said 16 percent of the number are from Kano, Jigawa and Katsina states with each state recording 989,234, 337,861, 536,112 respectively.
While expressing worry over the quality of education, even among children who were enrolled in the states, he said the situation is further exacerbated by poor learning outcomes of low reading and numeracy skills.
“Only 1 out of 4 children in Nigeria, aged 7-14 years can read and understand a simple sentence or solve basic arithmetic, according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2021) report.
“Across Kano, Jigawa and Katsina states, this challenge is staggering. Tests conducted by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2022 found that Foundational Learning rates stand at 11 per cent or lower in the three states of Kano, Jigawa and Katsina,” Farah noted.
The UNICEF field officer however noted that, the Fund in the last one year has helped to expand access to education for children from families, supported Cash transfers for vulnerable families, improved infrastructural development and also partnered with communities, traditional leaders and decision makers on enrollment drives among others to improve access.
He therefore appealed to the state governors, especially in the North-West to ensure the release, and spending of appropriated funds in the education sector to address barriers that hinder children from attending school.
