UNICEF, others tackle Kaduna school crisis
July 28, 2026 12:32 am
Save the Children International and the UNICEF have reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the Kaduna State Government in tackling the out-of-school children crisis, pledging sustained interventions to ensure every child has access to quality basic education, Arewa PUNCH reports.
The development partners made the commitment on Friday at the Data Dissemination Event for the 2026 Out-of-School Children Mapping and the 2025/2026 Annual School Census reports under the Reaching Out-of-School Children project in Kaduna.
Speaking at the event, the Country Director of Save the Children International in Nigeria, Duncan Harvey, described the mapping exercise as a landmark achievement that would transform education planning in the state through reliable, evidence-based data.
According to him, the exercise has, for the first time, provided comprehensive information on where out-of-school children live across Kaduna’s 23 local government areas, including their age, gender and disability status.
“This is a landmark occasion because, for the first time, Kaduna State now knows exactly where its out-of-school children are. We know their age, their gender and whether they are living with disabilities. This gives us the evidence we need to target interventions where they are most needed,” Harvey said.
He disclosed that the household mapping covered 360,319 households in communities with high concentrations of out-of-school children, identifying 187,719 children who are currently out of school.
Harvey disclosed that 60.2 per cent of the children had never enrolled in school, while 39.8 per cent had dropped out after enrolment.
He identified poverty, shortage of teachers, inadequate learning facilities, insecurity, disability-related barriers, child labour and harmful social norms as the major factors responsible for the crisis.
“The challenge is not simply about getting children into classrooms. We must ensure they remain in school, learn effectively and successfully transition through the education system,” he stressed.
Harvey reaffirmed the Save the Children’s commitment to helping the state achieve the ROOSC project’s target of returning 100,000 out-of-school children to classrooms.
He said the organisation had already recorded significant milestones under the project, including enrolling 7,481 learners in accelerated basic education programmes, transitioning 13,703 children aged six to nine into formal schools from catch-up clubs, enrolling 3,312 learners in integrated Qur’anic and Tsangaya education centres, and distributing 53,013 learner kits and assistive devices to vulnerable children, including those living with disabilities.
He urged the Kaduna State Government to translate the mapping findings into costed implementation plans while calling on donors, communities and the media to sustain support for the initiative.
“We have the data. What matters now is turning these findings into action. Government, donors, communities and the media all have critical roles to play in ensuring that every child gets the opportunity to learn,” he added.
Also speaking, UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Dr Gerida Birukila, described the digitised Annual School Census as a major milestone that would strengthen education planning and improve policy decisions.
“There can no longer be excuses. We now have the data required to act. UNICEF will remain with Kaduna State every step of the way to ensure that every child, especially children living with disabilities, has access to quality education,” she said.
Birukila also advocated innovative approaches, including digital learning solutions, to reach children affected by insecurity, displacement and climate-related disasters.
Earlier, during a media engagement on Thursday, Harvey disclosed that Save the Children had already returned more than 100,000 out-of-school children to classrooms under the ROOSC project.
“We are very proud to be a partner on the Reaching Out-of-School Children Project. The project has very ambitious targets, not least returning 100,000 children to education. We have made remarkable progress, and now, as a result of this mapping, we know exactly where 187,719 out-of-school children live. These are the children the project will target in the second half of its implementation,” he said.
The UNICEF Chief of Field Office described the mapping exercise as unprecedented, saying it provided the government and development partners with accurate information on the exact local government areas, wards and households where out-of-school children could be found.
“This is not just a Kaduna story; it is a national story. There are many states across Nigeria that would love to have this level of evidence because it allows governments to plan better, budget more to effectively and target interventions where they are needed most,” Harvey added.
The Project Coordinator of the ROOSC Project, Ezra Angai, explained that the Save the Children exceeded its enrolment target during the first year of implementation.
“The report tells us exactly where these children are and why they are out of school. That information is helping us redesign our interventions so that we don’t just bring children back to school, but ensure they remain there,” Angai said.
He identified poverty as the biggest factor keeping children, particularly boys, out of school, noting that many were engaged in farming, hawking and other income-generating activities to support their families.
The Statistician-General of the Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics, Dr Bukar Baba Alhaji, said the exercise employed geospatial mapping and fully digitised data collection involving over 1,200 trained enumerators and multiple layers of quality assurance.
He said the findings would enable the government to target interventions more effectively by identifying both the location of out-of-school children and the factors responsible for keeping them away from classrooms.
Also speaking, the Head of Education at the Save the Children, Richard Ahead, pointed out that the project deliberately prioritised children living with disabilities through partnerships with organisations of persons with disabilities and health professionals.
“We are intentional about inclusion. We carried out disability assessments to understand the specific needs of every child and ensure they receive the support required to learn effectively in school,” Ahead said.
Our correspondent reports that the five-year Reaching Out-of-School Children Project is being implemented by the Kaduna State Government in partnership with Save the Children International, UNICEF, the Islamic Development Bank, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Education Above All and the Global Partnership for Education to significantly reduce the number of out-of-school children across Kaduna State.
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