The United Nations Children Fund, (UNICEF), has said Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2021) showed that there are currently about 10.2 million primary school children who are out of school in Nigeria.
The Chief, UNICEF Field Office, Kano State, Rahama Farah, who stated this yesterday in Kano during a briefing to mark the 2025 edition of the ‘International Day of Education’, said: “There are currently about 10.2 million children at the primary level who are out-of-school in Nigeria; 16% of them are from Kano, Jigawa and Katsina states. Close to one million children are out-of-school in Kano State (989,234), with a total of 337,861 children in Jigawa, while Katsina State has 536,112.
The UNICEF chief, while quoting the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, said 32% of primary school-going age children are out of school in Kano.
According to him, “While the spectre of out-of-school children is a major concern, the challenge is that even those children who have the opportunity to be enrolled in school do not have quality education. Only one out of four children in Nigeria, aged 7-14 years can read and understand a simple sentence, or solve basic arithmetic, according to the MICS report.
“Across Kano, Jigawa and Katsina states, this challenge is staggering; as tests conducted by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2022 found that foundational learning rates stand at 11%, or lower, in the 3 States. For instance, only 2% of primary school learners in Jigawa State have foundational reading skills, while less than 1 percent have numeracy skills. Although Kano figures appear better, at 9.6 percent for reading proficiency and 11.2% for numeracy, these figures are way lower than the national averages of 26% for reading proficiency and 25% for numeracy, respectively”, Farah emphasised.
He further noted that the education sector has faced the challenge of inadequate funding across the States, and reaffirmed UNICEF’s commitment to supporting basic education in three states to address challenges in that sector.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly in December 2018 declared January 24 as the International Day of Education.
The theme of the 2025 celebration is: “AI and Education: Preserving Human Agency in a World of Automation.”.
