The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concerns over the poor quality of education for children in Northern Nigeria, coupled with the high number of Out of School Children in the region.
According to UNICEF, the Northwest region has the second-highest rates of children out of school, and the situation is worsened in Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina states.
Chief of UNICEF Field Office Kano, Rahma Rihood disclosed this to Journalists during a press conference in commemoration of 2025 International Day of Education (IDE) in Kano.
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There are currently about 10.2 million out-of-school children at the primary level in Nigeria, 16 per cent of which are from Kano, Jigawa and Katsina states, according to Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2021).
The UNICEF Chief of Field Office Rahma Rihood lamented the poor level of education in these states noting that, 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.
The theme for this year’s International Day of Education is “AI and Education: Preserving Human Agency in a World of Automation.”
(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
