As more money and other resources pour in for Sokoto and Kebbi states in their quest to rein in the perennial problem of out-of-school children, results from the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 6 show that there is still a long way to go towards achieving the desired goal, FELIX KHANOBA writes.
Despite various efforts put in place by governments, international development partners and non-governmental organisations to address the embarrassing problem of out-of-school children in Sokoto, Kebbi and some other Nigeria’s northern states are still struggling to overcome the problem.
Findings by the recently released 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 6 revealed that the highest out-of-school rates are found in Kebbi (65 per cent), Zamfara, Sokoto, among other northern states.
The MICS 6 which was carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with the support of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), covered over 39, 632 households in Nigeria, with the startling results showing huge educational needs in Kebbi, Sokoto and many other states.
According to the report, among children aged 7-14 years in Nigeria, only 27 percent have foundational literacy skills and 25 cent have foundational numeracy skills, even as it also revealed that one out of every 4 (26 percent ) of children of primary school age are out of school which remain almost unchanged from 27 percent in 2016.
While the report says the lowest out-of-school rates are found in Ekiti State (2 percent ) in South-West Nigeria and Imo (1 percent ) in South-East, the highest rates were recorded in Kebbi Zamfara, Bauchi and Sokoto.
This has prompted concerns that the huge resources committed to the fight against out-of-school children’s menace have yet to deliver a major blow to the problem.
Many, however, argued that without the interventions of international development partners, the out-of-school menace would have resulted into a major disaster of unimaginable proportions, considering the magnitude of money injected into the education system by UNICEF and others to cure the problem.
On Girls Education Project phase 3 (GEP3) alone, UNICEF expended a whopping sum of $109,196,039 in six northern states within the last 10 years.
The money, provided by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to shore up enrolment of girls in Katsina, Bauchi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger and Kano State and attracted 964,325 children to school from 2012 till date.
While the GEP3 is one of the numerous interventions by UNICEF in the basic education sector, Federal governments, World Bank, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), among others continue to commit huge resources on educational programmes in Sokoto, Kebbi, among other states.
Just last year, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State revealed that he secured a $70 million World Bank Grant to strengthen Girl-Child Education in the state, adding that the government was also prioritising education in its annual budgetary provisions.
Also, data provided by (UBEC) shows that N14. 27 billion was disbursed to Kebbi as a matching grant from 2005 to 2020 while N13.56 billion was accessed by Sokoto under the same period.
In Sokoto, due to the deplorable education indices in the state, Governor Aminu Tambuwal in 2015 declared a state of emergency in the sector and went ahead to increase the education budget to 29 percent the following year.
“In 2026, we had a whopping 29 percent allocation to education, about the UNESCO benchmark, and ever since, we have maintained the tempo by ensuring sustained funding for the education sector,” the governor was quoted to have said in an interview.
But despite the success stories of the various efforts put in place in the education sector, Nigeria still accounts for about 18.5 to 20 million out-of-school children, with Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto and other northern states topping the list.
UNICEF’s Chief of Measurement for Results (M4R), Claes Johanson, who bared his mind on the problem during a two-day media dialogue on MICS 6 in Port Harcourt, said that the share of children that are out-of-school in primary school was still 25 per cent.
Quoting data from the MICS 6, Johanson said the lowest out-of-school rates are found in Ekiti (two per cent), and Imo (one percent). The highest rates are in Kebbi (65 per cent), Zamfara (61 per cent) and Bauchi (61 per cent).
He, however, expressed hope that with continuous investment in education, particularly by the government, the number of out-of-school children would witness significant reduction.
“There is room for improvement, particularly in education. For the first time, we are looking at children actually learning but only 25 per cent at grade level in terms of reading and mathematics. More than that, one in every four children doesn’t even go to school.
“So, the number of out-of-school children is still one in four and that is the same as five years ago. Investments in the education system is the most important thing,” he said.
“There needs to be a comprehensive policy response from the state government, stating its intention to really invest in the education system and also in the social protection system that will provide more economic opportunities for the people of Nigeria, ” Johanson said, adding that the present percentage of out-of-school children rate is connected with population growth.
” Good, we say that out-of-school is decreasing, but in absolute numbers we have a population growth that swallows up and minimises the results,” he said.
Throwing more light on the reasons for the high number of children roaming the street instead of being in the classroom, Communication Specialist, UNICEF Nigeria, Dr. Geoffrey Njoku, who also spoke at the UNICEF’s organised media dialogue in Port Harcourt, said about 5.3 million children were affected by closure of 11,536 schools last year as a result of security challenges, thereby contributing to Nigeria’s out-of-school children’s woes.
He said: “As a precautionary measure, a total of 11,536 schools were closed for specific periods last year, with 5,330,631 students whose schooling was disrupted and learning severely impacted.
“When schools are attacked, children and parents begin to see them as places of danger. The damage is tremendous, making parents afraid to send their children to school and affecting the mental health of children. Those directly impacted are traumatised and are slow to recover from the shock of an attack on their school,” Njoku said.
Many, however, believe that with sustained investments in the education sector and an improved security, the perennial problem of out-of-school children in Sokoto, Kebbi and many other northern states will soon be a thing of the past.
