Nigeria Accounts For 12.4% Of Out-of-school Children In Sub-Saharan Africa- Adamu

Nigeria accounts for 12.4 per cent of the out-of-school children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This was made known by Education Minister Adamu Adamu on Thursday in Benin during activities to mark the 2023 Education Week of the Edo Government.

The  event was themed “Education for Alahgogaro: investing in quality education and access for our children and youth”.

“Our education challenge is an open secret; out of 258 million Out-of-School Children worldwide, an estimated 62 million are in Sub-Saharan Africa”

“Nigeria is said to accounts for 12.4 percent of the Out-of-School Children in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.

Represented by Mrs. Olatunji Davis, Director of Basic Education in the Ministry, the minister said the 2018 National Personnel Audit estimated that 10.5 million children aged five to 14 were not in school.

He added that the figure had been further exacerbated by the increased learning poverty caused by closure of schools and non-return of children to school following the Global COVID-19 pandemic.

To ensure access to quality basic education for the Nigerian child, Adamu said the the June 12 Presidential declaration on the enforcement of free and compulsory basic education for the first nine years of schooling underscored the Nigeria’s commitment to achieving Universal Basic Education (UBE) as enshrined in the UBE Act of 2004.

He listed the strategic programs to achieve the federal government commitment to include the Better Education Service Delivery (BESDA) , Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), IDEAS Program, and the Transforming Education Systems at State.