Out-of-school children below 8 million – Nigerian govt rejects UNICEF’s 15 million figure

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, says Nigeria’s number of out-of-school children is lower than the 15–18 million estimate often cited by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, insisting that ongoing data mapping shows a significantly reduced figure.

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‎Alausa spoke on Tuesday during an interview on Politics Today on Channels Television, where he explained that the federal government is conducting a nationwide mapping exercise to identify the actual number of out-of-school children.

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‎He said the ministry has already reintegrated over one million children into schools within the last 30 months through ongoing interventions.

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‎According to him, the government’s mapping exercise involves physically tracking and identifying children at the community level to determine accurate enrolment figures across states.

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‎The minister cited Kaduna State as an example, saying while earlier estimates placed the number of out-of-school children at about 1.8 million, the ongoing verification process indicates the figure is closer to 700,000.

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‎He added that similar exercises in other states, including Akwa Ibom, suggest significantly lower numbers than previously reported.

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‎Alausa maintained that although the revised national figure is below 8 million, the situation remains a serious concern requiring continued intervention.

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‎He said: “We’re doing data mapping of our out-of-school children as we continue the aggressive intervention in moving children back to school.

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‎“Today, I can tell you that we’ve moved over one million children off the streets and back to school within the last 30 months.

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‎“UNICEF can quote its data. Some people say 15 million or 18 million, but what I’m telling you is that we are carrying out data mapping of the actual out-of-school children. We’ve gone to several states. We target those out-of-school children, locating them where they are and identifying their addresses.

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‎“Now we’ve done several states. Like in Akwa Ibom State, we find it difficult to identify out-of-school children.

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‎“UNICEF quoted Kaduna as having done well. Today, we’ve mapped every single out-of-school child in Kaduna. UNICEF data said Kaduna has 1.8 million. When we completed this data mapping in Kaduna, we found only 700,000.

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‎“Is that still high? Yes. But now, do we have a real number? Yes. I can tell you unequivocally.

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‎“Today, we mapped the entire out-of-school children population in Kaduna State, and we only have 700,000, but from UNICEF data, they said 1.8 million.

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‎“By the time we aggregate all the data we have, we have less than 8 million, but that is still too high.

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‎“But then, what are we now doing to bring these kids back? We have innovative programmes that we’ve never implemented before.

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‎“We have now finalized agreements with private schools to take in these children. We’re paying them on a per capita basis. We’re paying them per child to take them in. It will start this year.”

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