KANO — The Federal Government has vowed to leave no stone unturned in tackling Nigeria’s alarming out-of-school children (OOSC) crisis, with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) unveiling a renewed enrollment drive in the Northern region.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony on Monday, UBEC Executive Secretary, Aisha Garba — represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary (Technical), Razaq Akinyemi — said the commission, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has developed a comprehensive roadmap to address the phenomenon and ensure school-age children across the country are enrolled.
Garba highlighted the diverse barriers to education, including the challenges faced by the boy-child, girl-child, street children, Almajiri, and children with special needs. She stressed that only a collective effort can address the low access to basic education opportunities in Nigeria.
“In our quest to swiftly address the OOSC phenomenon, UBEC collaborated with UNICEF to develop a Framework of Action on Out-of-School Children which serves as a roadmap. It emphasizes innovative enrollment drive models, shared best practices, and state-led campaigns aligned with national education priorities,” she said.
She further noted that UBEC is complementing the enrollment drive by improving the learning environment, supplying teaching materials, enhancing teacher quality, and encouraging stakeholder participation through School-Based Management Committees.
In his remarks, Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State issued a 30-day ultimatum to headmasters across the state to ensure all school-aged children are enrolled before the deadline.
Represented by Commissioner of Education Ali Makoda, the governor raised concern over UNICEF’s statistics that Nigeria currently has 10.2 million out-of-school children, with Kano alone accounting for nearly 989,000 — 7.6% of the national figure.
“It’s a wake-up call. All hands must be on deck to fight this phenomenon,” Yusuf said, adding that his administration is distributing learning materials, improving infrastructure, and scaling up interventions to boost education access.
Also speaking, Chairman of the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Yusuf Kabir, who represented Northern SUBEB chairmen, emphasized that the future of the region depends on educating its children, while urging parents, traditional rulers, and stakeholders to actively play their roles in the campaign.
UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in Kano, Rahama Farah — represented by Michael Banda — identified insecurity, poverty, cultural norms, weak infrastructure, and systemic governance challenges as major obstacles to education in Northern Nigeria.
He reaffirmed UNICEF’s commitment to supporting state governments in addressing these challenges, stressing that communities remain the driving force for enrollment, retention, and completion of basic education.
With the new enrollment push, UBEC and UNICEF aim to drastically reduce Nigeria’s out-of-school children figure ahead of the 2025/2026 academic session.
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