In a recent regional stakeholder meeting in Bauchi, Gombe, and Adamawa states, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed concerns over the retention, transition, and completion rates of students in the Nigerian education system, particularly in the North East and North West regions.
Tushar Rane, the Chief of Field Office for UNICEF in Bauchi, mentioned that the current situation regarding student retention has deteriorated compared to a decade ago. He highlighted the alarming statistics of out-of-school children, with 10.2 million in the primary school-age group and 8.1 million in the junior secondary school-age group, placing Nigeria at the forefront of global education challenges.
According to Rane, only 63 percent of primary school-age children attend school regularly, and the transition rate to junior secondary education after primary school completion stands at 84 percent. Shockingly, less than half of the 5.9 million children who enroll in Primary Grade 1 annually in Nigeria manage to complete Junior Secondary Grade 3, amounting to approximately 2.4 million students.
Yawoji Ahmed Bala, a director from the Gombe State Universal Basic Education Board, identified factors such as early marriage, peer pressure, and societal norms as key contributors to the high number of out-of-school children.
The stakeholders’ meeting aimed to foster collective commitment towards developing and implementing strategies to address the issue of out-of-school children and enhance the retention, transition, and completion rates, especially for adolescent girls and boys in secondary education.
The meeting saw the participation of education commissioners from the states and executive secretaries of state SUBEBs, underscoring the urgent need for collaborative efforts to tackle the education challenges facing Nigeria.