The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has lamented that Nigeria is facing alarming poverty in which 70 per cent of 10-year-olds cannot understand a simple sentence or perform basic numeracy task.
The Chief of UNICEF Field Office Kano, Mr. Rahama Farah who gave the indication at a Media Dialogue on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as Child Rights-Education said the Fund has been collaborating with the Government of Nigeria to improve outcomes in the education sector.
“To address the challenge, achieving basic learning outcomes at the foundational level of education is key. It is clear that to improve learning outcomes in Nigeria, achieving basic foundational skills at that level of learning cannot be overemphasized.
“For instance, as is the case with some countries globally, and in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria faces a learning crisis in which learning is not taking place, even for children that are in school.
“According to the World Bank, Nigeria is experiencing a learning poverty in which 70 per cent of 10-year-olds cannot understand a simple sentence or perform basic numeracy task.
“Talking about children’s rights, Education is one of such rights. Education is a fundamental human right, and that right is well-articulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the (CRC) which guides the work of UNICEF, and of course, in other legal instruments, including the Nigerian Constitution”.
He said; “In executing its mandate of promoting, protecting, advocating, and collaborating with partners for the realisation of the rights of children, UNICEF has been collaborating with the Government of Nigeria to improve outcomes in the education sector.
“Progress is being made; yet much more needs to be done, hence this dialogue! For instance, as is the case with some countries globally, and in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria faces a learning crisis in which learning is not taking place, even for children that are in school”. He noted.
Mr. Farah however called on the Media Practitioners to deploy their mass-mediated channels of communication to raise awareness of the learning crisis in Nigeria.
“The media must deploy its powerful mass-mediated channels of communication to raise awareness of the learning crisis in Nigeria; advocate increased funding to the education sector, especially the allocation of adequate resources to pre-primary and primary level of education in Nigeria; and investing in improving teacher quality.
“Additionally, I urge the media to mobilize all stakeholders – parents, teachers, communities, government, CSOs, donors, everyone – to join in the worthy cause of addressing the challenge of learning poverty in Nigeria,” she said.
