The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has expressed concern that sub-Saharan Africa has achieved only 41 per cent of SDG4 commitments, which aimed to ensure inclusive and quality education for all.

It lamented that Nigeria’s SDG4 and other African countries were moving at a snail’s pace.

Chief of Education of UNICEF Nigeria, Saadhna Panday-Soobrayan, revealed this Wednesday in Abuja at the National Conference on the Learning Crisis in Nigeria.

She stated that, “Only 18 countries have achieved 80 per cent of SDGs while Sub-Saharan Africa has achieved just half of the SDG commitment. Only half of Nigeria’s children are developmentally on track in early childhood and 60 per cent participate in organized pre-primary learning, leading to late primary entry and poor learning outcome.

“Nigeria has a shortfall of approximately 195,000 teachers at the primary level. Only 84 per cent of primary school teachers and 59 per cent of Junior Secondary School teachers are qualified. Over 60 per cent of public JSS classrooms in Borno, Kano, Kaduna, and Kebbi States have no teaching materials. Global data showed that Nigeria could achieve a higher level of learning outcome given its pupil expenditure”, she said.

According to her, the quality of teaching in Nigeria was limited by poor pedagogical skills and a lack of teaching and learning materials.

Also speaking, UNICEF Nigeria Representative, Cristian Munduate, stressed the need for targeted efforts to address the learning loss in the country and within the sub-Saharan Africa.

She noted that COVID-19 pandemic worsened the existing education crisis in the region, with many children losing access to education due to the closure of schools.

“For Nigeria, convening a conference on the learning crisis is an opportunity as the government defines its priorities for the education sector in the new Ministerial Strategic Plan. Just as Nigeria has galvanized significant support around the out-of-school problem, so too must it give attention to the learning crisis that is fueling the out-of-school problem in Nigeria,” she stated.

Speaking on behalf of Nigerian Governors Forum, the Governor of Kwara State and Chairman of the Forum, Abdulrazaq AbdulRahman, called for a state of emergency in the education sector, specifically targeting the basic education level, while stressing the need for immediate action to bridge the learning gaps observed at the elementary school level.