• Report urges accelerated programmes as 21 former Almajiri become computer technicians

A New report by the Centre for the Studies of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) has raised fresh concerns over Nigeria’s deepening education crisis, revealing that the country’s large population of out-of-school children – the third-largest number globally – means that millions of children are denied access to learning.
   
The report noted that educational exclusion “continues to undermine human capital development worldwide despite sustained investment in education systems.”
   
Meanwhile, 21 former Almajiri children have graduated as certified technology technicians and entrepreneurs from the Out-of-School Children/Almajiri-to-Tech Foundation.
   
Comprising 14 males and seven females, the children were taught various skills ranging from repair of telephone handsets, laptops, desktops, power banks, fans, televisions, microwave ovens, torchlight, and how to assemble their own computers and robots and drones.
   
Speaking at the graduation ceremony yesterday in Abuja, former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, who decried the high number of Almajiri and street children in the country, blamed the problem on systemic failure.
   
He noted that the estimated 30 million out-of-school children is an understatement, warning that the nation is not safe if citizens fail to take care of out-of-school children and the unemployed youths.
   
According to him, “the problem of out-of-school children in Nigeria is a national issue and not a northern problem,” because such people become a problem wherever they are.
   
In 2006, we did a sample population of okada riders (commercial cyclists) in Kano and it was three million then. Imagine what the number will be by now?
   
Abubakar called on the Almajiri Commission to rise to its responsibility, and the northern governors to take concrete steps to address the menace.
   
Also speaking, President of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr Ike Neliaku, described the training as an act of humanity and a call for responsibility, stating that a single individual, Mr Tim Akano, put his resources forward to initiate it.
   
Earlier, the founder of Almajiri-to-Tech Foundation and Managing Director of New Horizons System Solutions Limited, Akano, disclosed that about six months ago, some of the 21 children who graduated could not write their names in English.
   
He expressed joy that the same children today can build computers, robots and drones with their own hands and can repair over 10 types of electrical appliances in months.
   
Presented by Dr Adamu Wudil at the CSEA office in Abuja, the report noted that despite these challenges, several Education in Emergencies (EiE) innovations were already making a difference.
   
These include “radio-based and digital education modules” that help restore access to learning when schools are unsafe, Accelerated Education Programmes designed to help out-of-school children return to formal education, and “crucial socio-emotional learning interventions addressing trauma experienced by vulnerable groups, offering learners a sense of normalcy and safety.”
   
Globally, it was noted that about 273 million children and young people were out of school in 2024, equivalent to “one in six school-age children,” with the number rising for seven consecutive years since 2015. It added that the burden is increasingly concentrated in developing regions, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia.
   
According to the report, educational exclusion extends beyond children who are not enrolled in school. It also includes those whose education is interrupted and those who remain in school but fail to acquire foundational literacy and numeracy skills.
   
The report further cited UNESCO’s 2026 review, which warned that learning poverty remains high, with “over 300 million children at risk of still lacking basic literacy by 2030.”
   
Against this global backdrop, Nigeria was identified as one of the countries facing the gravest education challenges.  According to the report, Nigeria’s out-of-school children comprise “9.7 million primary-age children” and “10 million secondary-age youths,” underscoring what it described as “a staggering reality” for Africa’s most populous nation.
   
The North-East remains the epicentre of the crisis. The report noted that “Borno State alone accounts for nearly 54 per cent of out-of-school children nationwide,” attributing the situation to “protracted conflict, displacement, and vulnerability.”
   
The report stated that the education crisis is being driven by multiple and overlapping factors. Among them is the Boko Haram insurgency, where “armed conflicts have led to the destruction of infrastructure and the targeted abduction of students and teachers.”
   
It also highlighted communal clashes, stating that “ongoing local disputes and farmer-herder conflicts further destabilise rural communities, pushing families out of their homes.”
   
Climate-related shocks were also identified as another major driver, with recurrent flooding frequently disrupting educational access and destroying local resources.
   
In addition, the report pointed to mass displacement, noting that compounding crises have overwhelmed the already limited educational resources available in designated safe zones.
   
Placing Nigeria’s situation within the broader West African context, the report observed that poverty, insecurity, displacement, weak infrastructure and harmful social norms continue to keep millions of children out of school across the region.