48% Of Out-Of-School Girls In Nigeria From North East, North West – UNICEF

• Over half of Nigerian girls, 7.6 million, do not attend school, with disparities between regions and economic backgrounds
• Nigeria accounts for 15% of all out-of-school children globally, emphasizing the need for intervention to address this issue

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than half of Nigerian girls do not attend basic education classes.

Jutaro Sakamoto, UNICEF’s education manager, revealed this in Abuja at the French Institute in Nigeria’s education conference.

He stated that 7.6 million Nigerian girls were not attending school, with 3.9 million attending primary school and 3.7 million attending junior secondary school.

Sakamoto also stated that 48% of out-of-school girls lived in the North West and North East and that gender parity in net attendance ratio was less than 1.0 in 10 states, primarily in the North, but it is decreasing in 15 states.

He claims that only 9% of the poorest girls attend secondary school, compared to 81% of the richest quintile.

Sakamoto lamented that Nigeria accounts for 15% of all out-of-school children worldwide, saying, “If we can’t address the situation in Nigeria, we can’t solve the situation in the world.”

He stated that those attending school were not being taught well due to a lack of facilities but that UNICEF’s Education Opportunity for Out of School Children (OOSC) project had some impact.

1.6m Children Out Of School In North East – UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that 1.6 million children in the North East are not attending school.

Phuong Nguyen, UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in Maiduguri, revealed this during a Foundation Literacy and Numeracy in the North-East Seminar held in Maiduguri on Wednesday.

She stated that UNICEF is dedicated to leaving no child behind in its efforts to accelerate education delivery in Nigeria.

She emphasised the importance of collaboration among the government, UNICEF, donor agencies, and other development partners who are already committed to raising awareness of fundamental learning and are eager to share innovative methods learned from implementing these programmes in the region.