ABUJA, July 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school in the world, according to a report by UN’s cultural and education agency Unesco.
It estimates that at least 10 million Nigerian children, mostly girls, are missing out on education.
Despite the country having a law making school attendance compulsory, millions of children still roam the streets to beg or to do manual labour.
Primary school education is free in Nigeria but parents incur some costs such as transportation, school uniforms and learning materials.
The government says that a school-feeding programme – launched in 2016 – is benefiting close to 10 million children and is helping to keep them in school.
However, this intervention is facing allegations of corruption and dishonest dealings by some of the officials handling it at local levels, a situation that the authorities acknowledge and say they’re trying to address.
Unesco says the world will miss its target of having full transition of children to primary school by 2030 as part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
It warns that at least one in six children will be dropping out by then. — NNN-AGENCIES
