The Federal Government has warned that girls can effectively drop out of school while still sitting in the classroom, urging teachers to identify and address bullying, abuse, exclusion and other factors that silently push learners out of education.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, gave the warning on Monday in Abuja at the National Trainers’ Workshop on Safe Learning Environment, Gender-Responsive Technology and ICT Skills for Educators in Teacher Training Institutions in Nigeria.

Ahmad, who was represented by the Director, College of Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr Uchenna Uba, said physical attendance alone should no longer be regarded as evidence that a child was benefiting from education.

She said a girl could remain in school every day but gradually withdraw after being repeatedly ignored, ridiculed, bullied or made to feel unsafe.

“A girl does not always leave school on a day her name disappears from the register. Sometimes she leaves a little early while she is still sitting in the classroom.

“She raises her hand and is never called upon. Other children laugh when she speaks, and no one stops them. Someone makes her feel unsafe, and she cannot think of an adult she trusts enough to tell.

“She is present every morning, but slowly, quietly, she withdraws. If we count only enrolment, we may miss that girl entirely,” she said.

The minister said the warning underscored the need for Nigeria to move beyond simply enrolling children in school to ensuring that they were safe, included and learning.

She cited UNICEF data indicating that 74 per cent of children aged seven to 14 lacked basic reading and mathematics skills in 2024, stressing that behind the statistics were children whose educational needs required urgent attention.

Ahmad said the Federal Ministry of Education had introduced the National Policy on Anti-Bullying in Nigerian Schools and its implementation guidelines, but stressed that the success of such policies would ultimately depend on teachers and other adults in schools.

She said teachers must be able to recognise bullying, respond appropriately to reports of abuse and create an environment where children feel safe enough to seek help.

“Success, however, will be decided in schools and classrooms by whether a teacher recognises bullying, whether a child knows how to seek help, and whether the adults responsible respond with care and consistency,” she said.

The minister noted that teachers themselves often worked under difficult conditions, including overcrowded classrooms, limited teaching materials and heavy workloads.

She therefore said policies alone could not solve the challenges facing the education sector without adequately preparing teachers to implement them.

“We cannot simply hand her a policy and expect every difficulty to disappear. We must prepare her to put it in practice. That is the promise of this workshop,” Ahmad said.

The Guardian reports that the workshop will train 45 master trainers from 15 teacher training colleges in gender-responsive pedagogy, safe learning environments, prevention and response to school-related gender-based violence and digital teaching.

The master trainers are expected to cascade the training to about 500 teacher educators.

Ahmad commended the government of Japan, through UNESCO, for supporting the 15 colleges with ICT equipment, describing the intervention as an investment in the institutions responsible for preparing Nigeria’s future teachers.

She challenged participants to ensure that the equipment translated into practical improvements in teaching rather than becoming unused facilities.

The minister urged the master trainers to replicate the training in their institutions, allow colleagues to practise the new approaches and monitor their impact on student teachers and pupils.

In his goodwill message, the Provost, Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Dr James Olisa, speaking on behalf of the Committee of Provosts, described the intervention as timely, stressing the importance of equipping teacher-training institutions to prepare educators for the realities of modern classrooms.

Dr Olisa said the success of the initiative would depend on the effective utilisation of the skills and equipment provided to beneficiary institutions.

Also speaking, the Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria, Kozaki Hitoshi, reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to supporting education development in Nigeria.

Kozaki said Japan’s partnership with Nigeria was based on collaboration and local ownership, stressing that the value of the intervention would ultimately be measured by how the beneficiary institutions deployed the equipment to improve teacher preparation and expand learning opportunities.

The Japanese diplomat stressed that the country’s support was intended to work alongside African governments and institutions rather than impose external solutions.—