The United Nations Children’s Funds and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in Nigeria have stated that despite the progress made, Nigeria is unlikely to achieve the global agenda of universal inclusive and equitable quality basic education for all school-age children by 2030 if current very low public investment in the education sector remains unchanged.
At a media dialogue on girls’ education that was held on Wednesday in Katsina, a Communication Specialist from the UNICEF field office, Muntaka Muntaka, disclosed that the Students Learning Outcomes Assessment, which was completed in six case study states by an independent evaluation in 2021, revealed that only Enugu State has a higher literacy rate than the benchmark of 500.
However, it was lower in Kano (488.77), Zamfara (443.38), Kwara (493.56), and the remaining five states.
Enugu (599.46) and Kwara (565.28) are the only two states with higher numeracy proficiency scores than the national average of 500.
While other remaining states have lower pupil’s proficiency in numeracy, Kano (463.14), Zamfara (437.04) and Katsina (476.7).
For Nigeria to address the challenge, the media dialogue emphasised that the Government must demonstrate strong will, as well as create substantial innovative fiscal space.
Also, it called for policy reforms, so as to strengthen educational planning and coordination among various actors at all levels.
Among others, the Media Dialogue on Girls’ Education called for a review of existing policies and laws, with the objective to establish a strong accountability framework among key actors at the Federal and State levels.
The UNICEF representative said,“Policy action is critically needed to address and mitigate the dearth of financial data concerning basic education.
“Policy makers should give a clear policy direction and guidance on how the PTA levies will be applied in schools, so as not to constitute a serious barrier to school enrolment.”