IA-Foundation has disclosed a plan to establish skills acquisition centres in each of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria as the country grapples with the rising number of out-of-school children.
Development Diaries reports that the education-focused foundation aims to empower millions of out-of-school children in the country through this initiative.
Nigeria still accounts for the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reporting in 2022 that about 18.5 million children, the majority of whom are girls, do not have access to education in the country.
Figures from the UN agency also show that over 60 percent of these children are in the country’s northern region.
In a separate report in 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) noted that the country had approximately 20 million out-of-school children.
Another report, which was also released in 2022 by SBM Intelligence, listed Kebbi, Zamfara and Bauchi states as having the highest numbers of out-of-school children in Nigeria’s 36 states.
In fact, Nigeria is among the top three countries – alongside India and Pakistan – with the most children and youths excluded from education, and the vast majority of these children are girls.
The founder and Chief Executive Officer of IA-Foundation, Ibironke Adeagbo, in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria, said the plan to build the entrepreneurial centres was part of the outcome of her working visit to the newly elected Mayor of the London Borough of Southwark, Michael Situ.
According to her, the foundation also plans to host a summit in Lagos in October 2023, to discuss Nigeria’s out-of-school issues with an international audience.
She restated her call on the Nigerian government to establish an agency to tackle the out-of-school crisis, to save the future of children in the country.
Several other education-focused advocates, including members of a coalition of education-focused civil society organisations (CSOs), have been calling on both the federal and state governments in Nigeria to reimagine education in the country.
In a manifesto titled Reimagining Education in Nigeria, the CSOs, led by Malala Fund Education Champions, called on the Nigerian government to make senior secondary education free; fund more, fund better; and make schools safe.
Photo source: SuSanA Secretariat
