Jigawa, Kano, and Katsina account for nearly 30 per cent of Nigeria’s 18.3 million out-of-school children, UNICEF has warned, calling for urgent investment in early childhood education.
An education consultant with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Kano field office, Aisha Abdullahi, revealed the figures during a media dialogue with journalists from the three states. Presenting a paper on foundational learning, she attributed the crisis to poverty, insecurity, cultural barriers, and poor school readiness.
Nigeria currently has the highest number of out-of-school children globally, with the three northern states alone contributing a significant share of the national tally.
Ms Abdullahi stressed that the Early Childhood Care, Development and Education (ECCDE) framework offers a strategic, long-term solution. “Early childhood education is not just a preparatory stage but a strategic intervention to reduce the number of out-of-school children,” she said.
Targeting children from birth to age five, the ECCDE equips them with cognitive, emotional and social skills essential for formal schooling. Children who receive early learning are significantly more likely to enrol, stay in school, and complete their education, while those who miss out are twice as likely to drop out.
Ms Abdullahi noted that nearly 90 per cent of brain development occurs before the age of five, making early intervention critical. Despite policy provisions for one year of pre-primary education under Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education framework, access remains limited, especially in rural communities. Areas with functional ECCDE centres record up to 40 per cent higher enrolment into Primary One.
Early education also advances girls’ schooling by delaying societal pressures such as early marriage and strengthening maternal engagement. However, stakeholders at the dialogue expressed concern over low paternal involvement, with less than 15 per cent of fathers actively participating. They noted that increasing male engagement could reduce dropout rates by up to 50 per cent, recommending community advocacy, mosque-based programmes, and structured father-child initiatives.
Participants called for urgent policy action: expanding ECCDE to all primary schools, allocating at least five per cent of education budgets to early learning, training more teachers, and integrating traditional and religious education systems.
They maintained that strengthening early childhood education through adequate investment and quality delivery remains the most effective pathway to resolving Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis.