‘One in every three children in Nigeria is out of school’

The national coordinator of Education in Emergency Working group in Nigeria (EiEWGN) Judith Giwa-Amu, has said one in every three children in Nigeria is out of school.

She said education as a right of the child faces a severe threat in many areas of the country due to insecurity. She said the out-of-school population in Nigeria has continued to increase due to inadequate progress and rapid population growth.

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“One in every three children in Nigeria is out of school, 15 per cent of the global out of school children and at least one in two out of school in West Africa and central Africa are in Nigeria. Poor retention and transition are significantly contributing to access to education. There is a need for all education stakeholders to play their role as appropriate,” she said.

She made this known during a three-day safe school system strengthening workshop to improve education stakeholder’s coordination in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara of the North/west region of the country for the implementation of the national policy on safety, security and violence-free schools in Nigeria.

The workshop was part of an event to celebrate the International Day to Protect Education from Attack 2022 organised by the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) in collaboration with FORD Foundation.

Addressing the participants during the workshop in Kano dRPC’s Kano office director and senior programme associate Malam Umar Ahmed revealed that the workshop is aimed at addressing the gap in implementing the safe and violence-free policy, as well as drawing up a framework for coordinating intervention in education in emergency at the sub-national level.

According to him, the workshop will also provide a platform and guide for the establishment of education in emergency coordinating policy in the four participating states.