Quality learning remains urgent in Nigeria – UNICEF breaks silence

Quality learning remains urgent in Nigeria as most children who have succeeded in enrolling into Basic school are reportedly not receiving the needed knowledge.

Country Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, who raised the urgency on quality learning in the country, warned that policymakers at the national level must step up support for the education system.

Referencing a recent study, Munduate said only one-third of the 1.6 million children recently enrolled through its project have good learning achievements.

Three-fourths of that figure still have huge gaps in understanding what they are reading or learning, fluency or even basic mathematical operations.

The solution to bridging that gap, she says is for policymakers to scale up the capacity of teachers and raise awareness in communities of the importance of education.

Addressing the media at the wrap of the UNICEF’s Girls Education Project, GEP3 in Abuja, Munduate warned that quality learning must remain a priority for the government at the national level.

”If you have a child that goes to school, especially a girl, this brings wellness and hope to the family, it will prevent early marriage or teenage pregnancies that lead to complications.

”We no longer want to see girls breeding children and raising babies when they themselves are just children. Our plan is for girls to develop according to their ages