Out-of-school children below 8 million – Nigerian govt rejects UNICEF’s 15 million figure
Nigerian Education Minister Addresses Out-of-School Children Estimates
The Nigerian Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has stated that the country’s number of out-of-school children may be significantly lower than the commonly cited estimate of 15-18 million from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Alausa emphasized that ongoing data mapping efforts are revealing a reduced figure.
During an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Alausa outlined the federal government’s initiative to conduct a nationwide mapping exercise aimed at accurately identifying the number of children not attending school.
“The ministry has successfully reintegrated over one million children into educational institutions over the past 30 months through various interventions,” he said.
The mapping exercise seeks to physically identify children in local communities to provide more accurate enrollment figures by state. Alausa cited Kaduna State as a case study, revealing that earlier estimates of approximately 1.8 million out-of-school children have been adjusted to about 700,000 based on the verification process.
Further assessments in other states, including Akwa Ibom, have also indicated lower figures than previously reported.
While the minister noted that the revised national figure stands at less than 8 million, he acknowledged that the issue remains serious and warrants ongoing intervention.
“We are engaged in data mapping of our out-of-school children as we persist with aggressive initiatives to bring them back to school,” Alausa said. “Today, I can confirm that over one million children have been removed from the streets and returned to educational settings in the last 30 months.”
He addressed the discrepancies in data, affirming, “UNICEF can cite its numbers, but we are focused on gathering accurate data on the actual population of out-of-school children by tracking them to their addresses.”
Alausa reiterated the government’s commitment to addressing the issue, stating that new agreements with private schools have been established to accommodate these children on a per capita payment basis, which is expected to commence this year.
