SCI expresses concern over increasing out-of-school children.

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

As the world commemorates the 5th International Day of Education (IDE), Save the Children International has expressed concerned about the increasing number of out-ofschool children in Nigeria.

The Media and Communication Manager Save the Children International Nigeria, Kunle Olawoyin, asserted this in a statement made available to the media in Kaduna yesterday.

Olawoyin noted that according to the UNICEF, the number of out of school children has increased from 10.5 million to 18.5 million in 2022, meaning there are millions of good reasons to step up investment in education.

He said access to school is not only essential for children’s wellbeing and ability to thrive here and now. “It is also a prerequisite for children to acquire the knowledge and skills that are central to building a life of opportunities.”

SCI urged Nigerian government to ensure accessible, inclusiveness, safe quality and free primary and secondary education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all children to realize and release their full potentials.

“To this end, we reiterate our demands for the Nigerian government’s fulfilment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment at the GPE Global Education Summit to increase education funding to 14% by 2022, 16.7% in 2023, 20% by 2024, and 22.5% by 2025.

“SCI calls upon governments, donors, partners, the international community and key stakeholders to stand by their commitments to prioritize investment in education and educational transformation towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Olawoyin stressed that SCI has been supporting the Government of Nigeria to implement the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD) and its guidelines to protect education from attack. In 2021, Nigeria hosted the 4th International Conference on Safe Schools in Abuja, with 400 delegates from 27 different countries attended in-person while 1,936 delegates from 124 countries participated virtually.

According to him education has been recognized globally as a veritable and strategic venture to the economic transformation of any nation.

“Save the Children urges for the prioritization of girl child education and more investment.”