The United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) has declared that the education system in Nigeria is faulty and facing challenges in retention, transition and completion by students.
The United Nations body which was particular about the system in the North East and North West regions of the country regretted the high number of out of school children in the regions.
UNICEF gave the warning at a two-day regional stakeholder meeting on out-of-school children and retention, transition and completion models in Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa states,
The world agency’s Chief of Field Office, Tushar Rane, warned the situation has become worse compared with 10 years ago, adding that over the past decade, the situation has worsened, with a significant number of primary and junior secondary school-age children out of school, totalling 10.2 million and 8.1 million respectively, a situation which places Nigeria at the forefront of global challenges in education.
He said: “Only 63 percent of primary school-age children regularly attend school. According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2021, only 84 percent of children effectively transition to junior secondary education after primary school completion. 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,” he said.
The agency emphasised the urgent need for concerted efforts to address the challenges in Nigeria’s education landscape.
Earlier In his address, Yawoji Ahmed Bala, a director from Gombe State Universal Basic Education Board, cited factors like early marriage, peer pressure, and social norms as contributing to the high number of out-of-school children
The meeting had in attendance commissioners of education from the states of the region and executive secretaries of state SUBEBs
