THE United Nations Children’s Fund has lamented that Nigeria is currently experiencing a learning crisis in which more than 70 per cent of school children cannot read and write or perform basic numeracy tasks.
UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Kano, Rahama Mohammed Farah made this known on Friday at a two-day media dialogue on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Kano.
The dialogue was organised by the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in collaboration with UNICEF with a focus on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, with the aim of promoting the SDGs as the right of the Nigerian Child.
Farah who was represented by Elhadji Issakha Diop, Officer-in-Charge (OIC), UNICEF Field Office Kano, quoted the World Bank, which indicated that Nigeria is experiencing learning poverty in which 70 per cent of 10-year-olds could not understand a simple sentence or perform basic numeracy task.
Farah said: “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.
“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, the case with some countries globally, and in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Nigeria faces a leaming crisis in which learning is not taking place, even for children that are in school.
“According to the World Bank, Nigeria is experiencing learning poverty in which 70 per cent of 10-year-olds cannot understand a simple sentence or perform basic numeracy tasks.
“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,” he said.
Speaking on the importance of child rights, UNICEF Communication Specialist, Geoffrey Njoku said there was no way the SDGs could be achieved by 2030 without focusing on children’s rights.
In her virtual presentation, UNICEF Education Specialist, Manar Ahmed, lamented that there was a huge learning crisis in Nigeria that is leading to over 70 per cent of children not achieving basic foundational skills.
She listed low funding to the education sector in Nigeria as one of the major challenges in providing access to quality education in Nigeria.
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