REPORT: Nigeria holds world record in Global Out-Of-School Population

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has released a shocking report indicating that one out of every five Nigerian children is out of school.

In what is clearly a national disgrace for a country that is the world’s eight largest oil producer, the UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report (EAGMR) says Nigeria holds the world record of having the highest number of its young people out of school.

With approximately 10.5 million kids out of school, Nigeria dominates twelve other countries with which it accounts for 47 percent of the global out-of-school population.


The other countries are Pakistan (5.1 million); Ethiopia (2.4million); India (2.3million); Philippines (1.5million); Cote D’Ivoire (1.2million); Burkina Faso (1million); Niger (1million); Kenya (1million); Yemen (0.9million); Mali (0.8million) and South Africa (0.7million).

And of all these countries, UNESCO says Nigeria is among the four that has experienced the highest increase since 1999.

“It (Nigeria) is one of only four among these twelve countries where the number increased in absolute terms,” the report noted. “It now accounts for almost one in five out-of-school children in the world.”

Although, UNESCO officials blame the drop in school enrolment in some countries on the decrease in aid between 2010 and 2011, anecdotal evidence suggests that the monumental corruption at all levels of government might have worsened Nigeria’s case.

In Nigeria, officials routinely steal funds appropriated for building classrooms, buying textbooks and implementing programmes that should bring more children to school.

Recently some officials were indicted for stealing funds released to the nomadic education commission, an agency charged with the responsibility of getting Fulani herdsmen to enroll their kids in school.

“This is a shame for our country,” says Femi Falade, a private school owner in Ijebu-Ode. “President Jonathan and state governors should bury their heads in shame.”