The Centre for Girls Education, Zaria, has called for the creation of a harmonised and reliable database on out-of-school children, expressing concerns that the current figures, particularly in northern Nigeria, are often politically inflated and inconsistent.
Director of the Centre, Hajiya Habiba Mohammed, made this known during an interview with journalists in Zaria. She referenced the UNICEF estimate which puts the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria at 18.3 million, but questioned the accuracy and reliability of such figures.
“There is a major problem with data on out-of-school children, especially in Kaduna State. Different institutions release figures that do not match what we observe on the ground,” she stated.
According to Mohammed, during one of the Centre’s projects funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, staff members conducted fieldwork in communities to identify out-of-school children, with a special focus on girls. Their findings indicated that many girls were actually enrolled in school, particularly in communities located near educational facilities.
“In my experience, the commonly circulated figures are exaggerated. The real issue lies in identifying children in remote, hard-to-reach areas where access to schools is limited,” she explained.
The Director emphasized the Centre’s ongoing collaboration with the government and relevant stakeholders to ensure children in underserved areas are identified, enrolled, and supported to remain in school.
She further urged both the government and development partners to prioritize the development of a comprehensive database that includes enrollment, retention, and graduation rates.
“Only with accurate and consistent data can we truly understand the scope of the problem and effectively address the issue of out-of-school children in our region,” Mohammed said.
