Why 9.7 million Nigerian children may never return to school

9.7 million Nigerian kids are at risk of never returning to school, according to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund.

This was said by the United Nations in Abuja at the unveiling of the Nigeria Learning Platform, an online, mobile, and soon-to-be offline learning platform that would deliver continuous education to three million learners in 2022 alone.

In a goodwill message offered during the opening, UNICEF’s Executive Director, Catherine Russell, stated that the platform will assist reach the most vulnerable and marginalized learners.

“Before COVID-19, about 10.5 million Nigerian children aged between 5 and 14 were not in school. Today in Nigeria, more than 9.7m children are at risk of never returning to school. The learning platform can help change that.

“By offering simple, easy and fun ways to learn, as well as tailor-made training programmes, the learning platform will help respond to the needs of every child. “With online, offline and mobile options, it can help us reach the most vulnerable and marginalised learners.”

The vice-president of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo who was represented by the minister of state for education, Emeka Nwajiuba, at the launch, noted that there must be a change in the education sector to ensure continuity of learning.

He said, “To ensure continuity of learning for all children and the resilience of education systems to future shocks, we must change and re-imagine the education sector.

“Deploying innovations that rethink the current methodologies, including new approaches to delivering education in ways that defy the digital divide, and ensuring learning continuity in emergencies, has become imperative.”