There is urgent need to invest more in education Far too many children are not in school in Nigeria. But even for those who are, many can hardly read or write, particularly those in the North-east. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) the region is experiencing a severe learning crisis as three out of four school children cannot read or solve simple mathematical problems before they enter Primary Six.
The UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Phuong Nguyen, said recently that only 29 per cent of schools in the region had teachers with minimum qualifications. “The average pupil-teacher ratio is 124 to one,” she said. “Almost half of all schools need rehabilitation.
Only 47 per cent of schools in Borno have furniture with lower proportions in Yobe and Adamawa.” To be sure, the impact of the Boko Haram insurgency on education in the Northeast is harrowing. At the last count, more than 650 teachers have been killed while about 19,000 others were displaced during the protracted conflict.
In addition, more than 900 schools have been damaged or destroyed, with the forced closure of 1,500 schools. An estimated 900,000 children have lost access to learning while 75 per cent of children in camps do not attend any school. Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States are in the rear obviously because of the adverse effect of the prolonged Islamic insurgency.
But they are by no means the only ones. The education crisis is affecting children across the country. At least 20.
5 millio.
