More than 50 per cent of girls in Nigeria are not attending school at the Basic Education level, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.
Jutaro Sakamoto, Education Manager at UNICEF, said in Abuja at the Education Conference organised by the French Institute in Nigeria that out of the 7.6 million girls out of school in Nigeria, 3.9million are at the Primary and 3.7million at the Junior Secondary level.
Sakamoto also said 48 per cent of out-of-school girls were in the North West and North East, adding that gender parity in net attendance ratio was below 1.0 in 10 States, primarily in the North, but is decreasing in 15 States.
According to him, 9 per cent of the poorest girls attend Secondary School, compared to 81 per cent from the richest class of Nigerians.
While lamenting that Nigeria accounts for 15 per cent of out-of-school children globally, Sakamoto said: “If we can’t address the situation in Nigeria, we can’t solve the situation in the world.”
He said those who going to school were not being taught well as a result of lack of facilities, adding that UNICEF’s Education Opportunity for Out-of-School Children (OOSC) project had been able to make some impact.
The OOCS in Nigeria include the following:
- Support to FME to develop a National Enrolment Drive Framework and reached over 820,000 through enrolment campaigns in 2017
- Mapping of OOCS and provision of cash transfers to enable access to and retention in school.
- Implementation of minimum standards on safe school in 12 States
- Development of a policy on gender in education, costed States gender plans & re-entry guidelines for girls
- Development of guidelines for integration of Almajiri children into formal primary schools and IQS
- Improvement of infrastructure through micro-grants to CBMCs
- Engagement with traditional and religious leaders in 19 Northern States and FCT to commit to reducing OOSC
- Establishment of high-level women’s groups in 12 States to advocate for girls’ education
- Provision of teaching and learning material to improve quality of learning in formal schools, IQSs, temporary learning spaces and informal community learning hubs
- Establishment of peer education clubs for girls and for boys to support girls’ retention and transition.
