The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Save the Kid International have reaffirmed their dedication to supporting the Kaduna State Government in addressing the growing variety of out-of-school kids, pledging continued interventions to expand access to quality fundamental education across the state.
The advancement partners made the dedication on Friday during the discussion of the 2026 Out-of-School Kid Mapping Report and the 2025/2026 Annual School Census under the Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROOSC) Job in Kaduna.
Speaking at the event, the Country Director of Conserve the Children International in Nigeria, Duncan Harvey, described the mapping exercise as a significant milestone that would reinforce education preparation by providing trustworthy and evidence-based information.
According to him, the survey has, for the very first time, generated detailed information on the places of out-of-school kids across Kaduna State’s 23 local government areas, including their age, gender and impairment status.
Harvey divulged that the exercise covered 360,319 homes in communities with high numbers of out-of-school children and determined 187,719 kids who are currently outside the formal education system.
He exposed that 60.2 per cent of the affected kids had never ever registered in school, while 39.8 percent had actually formerly participated in school however later on dropped out.
He associated the situation to numerous aspects, consisting of poverty, insufficient teaching workers, bad knowing facilities, insecurity, disability-related obstacles, child labour and hazardous social practices.
Harvey worried that tackling the crisis requires more than enrolling children in school, noting that efforts should likewise focus on guaranteeing they remain in class, receive quality learning and successfully development through the education system.
He declared Save the Kid’s commitment to supporting Kaduna State in accomplishing the ROOSC task’s target of returning 100,000 out-of-school kids to classrooms.
According to him, the organisation has already recorded notable achievements under the effort, including the enrolment of 7,481 learners into sped up fundamental education programmes, the transition of 13,703 kids aged in between 6 and 9 years into formal schools through catch-up clubs, and the enrolment of 3,312 students into incorporated Qur’anic and Tsangaya education centres.
He added that more than 53,000 student sets and assistive devices had actually likewise been distributed to vulnerable kids, including those dealing with impairments.
Harvey called on the Kaduna State Government to translate the findings of the mapping exercise into useful and properly funded action strategies while prompting donors, neighborhoods and the media to sustain their support for the project.
Likewise speaking, UNICEF’s Chief of Field Workplace, Gerida Birukila, explained the digitised Annual School Census as a significant achievement that would improve education preparation and enhance policy solution.
She kept in mind that the schedule of reputable data removes reasons for inactiveness and would enable government and advancement partners to execute more targeted interventions, especially for kids living with disabilities.
Birukila likewise promoted ingenious methods, consisting of digital learning solutions, to guarantee education reaches children affected by insecurity, displacement and climate-related emergency situations.
Throughout a media briefing held ahead of the event, Harvey revealed that Save the Children had actually already exceeded one of the task’s significant milestones by supporting the return of more than 100,000 out-of-school children to classrooms.
He noted that the current mapping workout has actually further identified 187,719 children who remain out of school and would form the focus of interventions during the next stage of the task.
Read also:
FG launches fresh nationwide survey to identify out-of-school kids figure
LASG, UNICEF Sensitise Private Schools to Nigeria Learning Passport
Describing the exercise as unprecedented, Birukila stated the findings supply federal government and development partners with precise information on the specific city government locations, wards and families where out-of-school children are located, consequently enhancing planning and resource allotment.
The Job Organizer of the ROOSC Project, Ezra Angai, said the first year of execution surpassed its enrolment target and described that the new report provides important insights into both the areas of affected kids and the reasons they stay outside the school system.
He recognized hardship as the leading aspect driving the crisis, especially amongst young boys who are often taken part in farming, street hawking and other income-generating activities to support their families.
The Statistician-General of the Kaduna State Bureau of Stats, Bukar Baba Alhaji, said the exercise employed geospatial mapping innovation and fully digitised data collection performed by more than 1,200 qualified enumerators, supported by multiple layers of quality assurance.
According to him, the findings will enable the government to design more targeted interventions by recognizing both the area of out-of-school children and the elements responsible for keeping them away from class.
Also speaking, the Head of Education at Save the Children International, Richard Ahead, stated the job deliberately prioritised children coping with specials needs through cooperation with organisations representing individuals with specials needs and healthcare professionals.
He explained that disability evaluations were carried out to determine each child’s particular academic needs and make sure proper support is provided to assist them find out successfully.
The five-year Reaching Out-of-School Kid Project is being executed by the Kaduna State Government in partnership with Conserve the Children International, UNICEF, the Islamic Development Bank, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Advancement, Education Above All and the Global Collaboration for Education, with the goal of considerably minimizing the variety of out-of-school kids across Kaduna State.