Ending Nigeria’s 18.3 million out-of-school children crisis 

Young Nigerians continue to bear the brunt of one of the country’s most enduring failures. A UNICEF report published in 2024 revealed that Nigeria has the highest tally of out-of-school debacles globally. The report stated that no fewer than 10.2 million children are not in school at the primary level, while 8.1 million others are similarly absent at the junior secondary school level. The dataset noted that 66 per cent of this huge figure is from the North-West and North-East geopolitical regions.

Year after year, education performance reports show that there is a rising number of out-of-school children, while budgetary allocations to the sector remain inadequate. Despite repeated calls for increased funding, only N3.53 trillion was allocated to the education sector in the proposed 2026 appropriation bill under the President Bola Tinubu’s administration. It represented 6.1 per cent of the total budget. Such a meagre allocation will inevitably take a toll on the education sector, particularly as it reflects a recurring pattern rather than an exception.

The 2026 fiscal budget for education was notably a drop from the 7.3 per cent allocated in 2025 under the same administration. Viewed side by side, the figures are both a bothering deviation from the UNESCO benchmark, which recommends that countries should allocate 4 to 6 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or 15 to 20 per cent of their total public expenditure, to education. Without doubt, the current funding disposition paves way for the far-reaching shortcomings in the education sector, whose consequences are both immediate and enduring.

The political disposition of the government of the day and its funding priorities explains why the crisis of out-of-school children continues to escalate numerically. The mishandling of poverty and insecurity in the country offers sufficient basis to conclude that the gravest disadvantage of Nigeria’s education system is the sustained failure of key stakeholders to fully grasp the fundamental purpose of education. Government’s lack of interest to prioritise education has only sustained the socio-political neglect of out-of-school children and the minimal, largely ineffective steps taken to address the crisis.

To emphasise its importance, education whether formal or informal is indispensable. It remains an essential social service, particularly in a society that has often failed to appreciate its essence. It is certainly the most vital asset in a world defined by inequalities and entrenched class divisions. The essence of education extends to fostering social cohesion and encouraging civic participation. The education sector remains till today the most reliable pathway to social relevance and constructive living.

Replacing the African traditional education system that preceded it, the advent of Western education in Nigeria in the 19th century, as introduced by British colonial authorities and Christian missionaries, redefined social standing and reshaped the pathways to achieving desired life outcomes. Popular Western education in Nigeria was also preceded by the global advancement of human rights, which gained momentum especially after World War II, alongside the rise of international organisations during the Cold War era.

The 20th century witnessed an increased interest in the advancement of human rights globally. Prominent among human rights subjects that gained traction during this historical period was the right to education, widely recognised for its contribution to individual development and its central role in the advancement of every sovereign state’s aspiration. The same century witnessed the demand for and establishment of several educational institutions in Nigeria, including the University of Ibadan, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, among others, were realised. At the time, many elementary schools had been set-up to meet the educational needs of the young people.

Still, as a global development, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), UNESCO’s Constitution, Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) became cornerstone documents that placed education at the heart of post-war reconstruction and promoted social development. Within the Nigerian setting, beyond these international treaties, Section 2 of the Nigerian Constitution, although a non-justiciable right, alongside the Child Rights Act of 2003 and the Universal Basic Education Act of 2004, reinforces the imperative of education. Collectively, these instruments make a compelling case for every child’s right to quality education. Despite the provision that basic education should be available and accessible compulsorily to citizens, millions of people still lack access to schools and quality education in Nigeria.

The situation becomes even more alarming when examined against its underlying drivers. The combined pressures of poverty and insecurity, particularly in northern Nigeria, have significantly undermined living standards nationwide. According to a 2022 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report, about 133 million Nigerians, representing 63 per cent of the population, live in multidimensional poverty. The agency further revealed that over 2 million Nigerians were kidnapped between May 2023 and April 2024, while more than 600,000 lost their lives within the same period. Taken individually and in combination, poverty and insecurity have made access to education increasingly out of reach for many, reducing it to a distant and often unattainable prospect.

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In Kwara, Plateau, Niger and Nasarawa States, several incidents between November 2025 and the present have left many families in deep and enduring grief. In response to worsening insecurity, multiple schools across northern Nigeria have been forced to suspend operations. There is no doubt that Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation has further worsened the country’s out-of-school crisis, already estimated at 18.3 million children according to 2022 data from UNICEF. With learning centres increasingly becoming flashpoints for attacks, school closures have, in many cases, become a necessary measure to deny terrorists potential access points.

As salt on the country’s wounds, economic recession and the rising cost of living have further weakened many parents’ capacity to send their children to school. With education increasingly commercialised and treated as a market commodity, access to quality learning has, for many households, become an elusive dream. The high cost of education places a heavy burden on millions of poor Nigerians, particularly in rural communities that are already deprived of basic social amenities.

More structurally disadvantaged is the Nigerian girl child, who remains among the most marginalised groups in the education system. While the poor male child contends primarily with the constraints imposed by his social and economic circumstances, the girl child is further burdened by deep-rooted socio-cultural barriers. In many cases, a girl’s physical and social environment becomes a decisive factor in determining whether she gets access to formal education at all. Where the male child may still manage to progress to secondary or higher education, many girls are prematurely withdrawn from school and pushed into early marriage in parts of Nigeria, where entrenched cultural norms continue to define a woman’s worth largely in terms of marriage and motherhood.

Till date, many societies in Nigeria and elsewhere around the world, still believe that the girl child education is an eventual waste. Some wrongly believe that the more educated a woman is, the less useful she will be to family and society. Considerably worse, some also primarily and ridiculously hold the view that an educated woman will procreate less and could become ‘rebellious’ or bad at mothering. In such societies, dropping out of school often places a girl at immediate risk of being married off.

In many parts of Nigeria, particularly in the North, the girl child is often the most vulnerable casualty of harsh economic realities. She either drops out of school or never has the opportunity to enrol at all, as limited family resources are redirected toward immediate household needs. As more girls, especially from low-income households, are pushed into early marriage, the divide between the rich and the poor continues to widen. Against this backdrop, the risks facing already fragile communities continue to intensify making it increasingly more volatile.

With poverty and insecurity already driving the out-of-school crisis, a profound threat to sustainable nation-building can be said to be inversely constituted. Inadequate access to basic education ultimately threatens national unity by deepening inequality and leaving many people feeling excluded, unheard and disconnected from the broader society. It is children who are failed by the state that often grow up believing they have no place they can truly call home. Left to navigate life on their own, many are then pushed into survival at all costs, sometimes turning to crime and other social vices as a means of coping with neglect and exclusion. As more children are pushed out of school, the effects rarely stay limited to them alone. Communities begin to feel it too, particularly through rising insecurity, growing crime and the quiet breakdown of trust and safety that everyone eventually has to live with.

To address Nigeria’s out-of-school crisis and its far-reaching consequences, access to quality education must be made genuinely available to every Nigerian child. The current budgetary allocation, it must be noted, remains a major obstacle to achieving this goal. The nationwide calls from individuals and civil society groups for increased funding for education must be taken seriously. Without adequate and sustained investment, closing the inequality gap in access to education will remain an unattainable objective.

Additionally, education in Nigeria must continue to undergo meaningful systemic reforms in order to better respond to the diverse and evolving needs of the present time. Schools must adopt a more holistic approach, equipping Nigerians not only with academic knowledge but also with vocational and technological skills essential for national development. Confining Nigerians strictly to rigid formal curricula risks stifling potential and limiting opportunities for growth. This is the reason the government, educational leaders, school administrators and policymakers must engage more critically with ideas such as those advanced by Sir Ken Robinson. Government policies must remain closely aligned with the realities, needs and aspirations of students, as well as the broader public interest. We must replace linearity, conformity and standardisation in schools with learning customised to cater for local needs, and as one that promotes curiosity.

On the global stage, countries such as Japan and China are good examples of how powerful it can be when practical and technical skills are built into education. These Asian countries strengthen innovation, prepare their workforce more effectively, and support long-term national development by linking classroom activities with real-world application. These countries operate vocational high schools, incorporate on-the-job training, and place strong emphasis on applied learning, among other home-grown solutions. Nigeria needs a similar model that would empower individuals with the skills required to drive economic growth while fostering self-reliance and innovation. We need to encourage millions of young people to take interest in education. That can be best achieved when education can be seen to be productive.

To further promote accessibility, it is necessary for the government authorities to decisively address the issue of insecurity across the North, East, West and Central regions of Nigeria. The recent killing of Brigadier General Hussaini Omo Braima, along with several other soldiers during an attack in Benisheikh, is unfortunate, saddening and a stark confirmation that the systemic threat to peace and stability persists. Beyond commiserating with victims, authorities must move beyond words to the decisive eradication of security threats, including terrorism, banditry and kidnappings that continue to ravage communities in Nigeria, with school children among the most affected. Practical efforts should be made to adequately equip security personnel with modern tools and strategically deploy them to vulnerable and affected areas in order to safeguard lives and restore public confidence. Without addressing the high level of insecurity in the country, the number of out-of-school children will continue to rise, simply because teaching and learning cannot thrive in an environment characterised by unrest, chaos, kidnapping, banditry and terrorism. A range of threats compounded by what appears to be a nonchalant attitude from the government of the day toward the education of school children.

Also, Nigeria must strengthen efforts to safeguard and promote the rights of the girl child. With an estimated 7.6 million girls currently out of school, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a critical starting point to bring the disadvantaged female population back to school would be the enactment and effective enforcement of comprehensive laws against child marriage. This should be complemented by sustained public sensitisation against the practice, creation of robust support systems for victims and strict prosecution of offenders to ensure deterrence and accountability.

These corrective measures would go a long way in curbing child marriage and expanding access to education for disadvantaged girls. Against this backdrop, the National Orientation Agency (NOA), whose mandate includes fostering public understanding of government policies, must integrate into its programmes sustained community sensitisation on the critical importance of education for all Nigerian children. The time to fix the crisis is now.

Ejuchegahi Angwaomaodoko is the founder of Ejuchegahi Angwa Foundation, a non-profit focused on Good governance and socio-political issues, and a Scholar at Kean University. He has authored extensively on Nigerian governance and policy since 2000.