OUT-OF-SCHOOL-CHILDREN ISSUE
The issue of out-of-school children in Nigeria is severe, with Kebbi, Sokoto, and Yobe states facing the highest percentages. In these states, approximately two-thirds of children aged 6–15 are out of school, reflecting challenges like poverty, inadequate infrastructure, limited educational facilities, and low awareness of education’s importance. Factors such as banditry, child labor, and early marriages exacerbate the problem, trapping communities in cycles of illiteracy and poverty. The impact extends beyond the current generation, posing a threat to Nigeria’s future prosperity and socio-economic development. Efforts to address this crisis are crucial to prevent wasting the potential of millions of youth.
UNESCO REPORT
A 2022 UNESCO report noted that approximately 20 million Nigerian individuals of its approximately 200 million population are not enrolled in school. This amounts to 20 percent of Nigeria’s entire population and is more than the overall population of various countries in Africa.
UNICEF REPORT
One in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, about 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school. Only 61 percent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education. In the north of the country, the picture is even bleaker, with a net attendance rate of 53 percent. Getting out-of-school children back into education poses a massive challenge. Gender, like geography and poverty, is an important factor in the pattern of educational marginalization. States in the north-east and north-west have female primary net attendance rates of 47.7 percent and 47.3 percent, respectively, meaning that more than half of the girls are not in school. The education deprivation in northern Nigeria is driven by various factors, including economic barriers and socio-cultural norms and practices that discourage attendance in formal education, especially for girls. https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/education
Though work has been put into it by the government, civil societies and well-meaning individuals in the country to tackle this issue, the percentage still shows that more work needs to be done.
FULL LIST AND PERCENTAGES OF OUT-OF-SCHOOL-CHILDREN IN NIGERIA STATES
See the full list of states below, in order of those topping the list on the issue of out of school children:
- Kebbi: 67.6%
- Sokoto: 66.4%
- Yobe: 62.9%
- Zamfara: 61.3%
- Bauchi: 55.7%
- Borno: 54.2%
- Jigawa: 51.1%
- Gombe: 48%
- Katsina: 45.9%
- Niger: 42.8%
- Kano: 39.2%
- Taraba: 28.8%
- Nasarawa: 25.4%
- Plateau: 23.2%
- Kwara: 22%
- Kaduna: 21.9%
- Adamawa: 21.7%
- Oyo: 20.9%
- Ogun: 20.5%
- Benue: 18.4%
- Ebonyi: 16.7%
- Ondo: 13.8%
- Osun: 12.8%
- FCT: 12.8%
- Edo: 11.3%
- Akwa Ibom: 10.6%
- Kogi: 10.2%
- Delta: 9.3%
- Rivers: 7.7%
- Cross River: 7.6%
- Enugu: 7.5%
- Bayelsa: 7.4%
- Lagos: 6.4%
- Abia: 5.6%
- Ekiti: 5.1%
- Imo: 5.1%
- Anambra: 2.9%
WHAT WE DO AT FLICKERS OF HOPE
Flickers of Hope Foundation continues to do our part in reducing the number of out of school children through her various programs; scholarships, advocacy and sensitization on the importance of education, Parent seminars, community outreaches, distribution of educational materials, teens clubs and boot camps etc.
To see more on what we do and come on board, visit our website: www.flickersofhope.org
Reach out to us: 07038111578 or flickersofhope@gmail.com
Reference: Tribune, Legit.ng, UNESCO, UNICEF
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