According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Nigeria has the highest proportion of out-of-school children in the world, with only 63 percent of primary school-aged children attending school regularly.
The UN agency also lamented that 10.2 million Nigerian children of primary school age and an additional 8.1 million of junior secondary school age do not attend school.
This was stated by the Chief of Field Office at the Bauchi UNICEF Field Office, Dr. Tushar Rane, during a two-day regional stakeholder engagement meeting on out-of-school children and the retention, transition, and completion models in Bauchi, Gombe, and Adamawa states held at Emerald Hotel Hall, Gombe.
According to UNICEF, there are now 10.2 million primary school-aged children and 8.1 million junior high school-aged children out of school in Nigeria. This concerning number highlights the difficulties the nation’s education system faces, particularly in the North-East and North-West subregions.
According to Rane, who cited data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2021, just 84% of children successfully transition from elementary school to junior secondary schooling.
“Less than 50 percent – about 2.4 million – of the 5.9 million children who commence Primary Grade 1 annually in Nigeria persist to the conclusion of Junior Secondary Grade 3,” Dr. Rane revealed.
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