Ibrahim Ibrahim
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has identified learning poverty and the high number of out-of-school children as critical education challenges in Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa states.
Muntaka M. Mukhtar, Education Specialist at UNICEF’s Kano Field Office, revealed this during a zonal media briefing held in commemoration of the International Day of Education.
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Citing the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, MICS, 2021, he explained that Nigeria accounts for 15 per cent of out-of-school children globally and 33 per cent in the Sub-Saharan region; of this figure areentrated in the North-West and North-East zones.
In Nigeria, 10.2 million primary school-age children are currently out of school, with Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa States contributing 16 per cent of this number, equating to over 3 million children.
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This shows that Kano has 1,497,766 out-of-school children, Katsina with 862,634, and Jigawa with 679,731.
Mukhtar said, “Only 1 in 10 children in Kano demonstrates basic literacy and numeracy skills (9.6% for reading and 11% for mathematics).
“The situation in Jigawa is even more dire, with less than 1 in 10 pupils meeting proficiency standards (2% literacy and 0.8% numeracy). Katsina fares slightly better, with 10.8% literacy and 6.4% numeracy. These figures fall far below the national averages of 26% for reading and 25% for numeracy.”
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He added that the country has a shortfall of over 378,000 teachers with pupil-to-teacher ratio of one teacher attending to 65 pupils, far exceeding the standard ratio of 1:35.
Mukhtar said UNICEF and state governments are actively working to address these issues by increasing equitable access to education, particularly for out-of-school children and girls.
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UNICEF however urged state governments to increase funding, utilization of resources and ensure timely release of allocations for basic education as well as recruitment of more qualified teachers to bridge existing gaps in the basic and post-basic education sectors.
