The United Nations Children’s Fund has identified Early Childhood Care, Development and Education as a powerful and urgent solution to Nigeria’s growing out-of-school children crisis, calling on governments at all levels to prioritise sustained investment in the sector.
Speaking at a media dialogue in Kano, UNICEF Education Consultant, Mrs Aisha Abdullahi, revealed that Nigeria currently has about 18.3 million out-of-school children—the highest number globally. She noted that states such as Jigawa State, Kano State, and Katsina State account for nearly 30 per cent of the figure, with poverty, cultural barriers, and insecurity continuing to keep millions of children away from classrooms.
Abdullahi stressed that the solution lies in shifting from reactive interventions to preventive strategies, with early childhood education playing a central role. According to her, ECCDE targets children from birth to age five, equipping them with the cognitive, emotional, and social skills needed to succeed in formal schooling and significantly reducing the likelihood of dropping out.
She described early childhood education not merely as a preparatory phase, but as a strategic intervention capable of reversing the out-of-school trend. Research, she noted, shows that nearly 90 per cent of brain development occurs before the age of five, making early learning a critical window that must not be missed. Children who lack access to ECCDE, she added, are twice as likely to drop out of school compared to those who receive pre-primary education.
Despite efforts by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council to integrate one year of pre-primary education into Nigeria’s basic education framework, access remains limited, particularly in rural communities where infrastructure and trained teachers are inadequate. However, communities with functional ECCDE centres have recorded up to 40 per cent higher enrolment into primary school and improved retention rates.
The dialogue also highlighted the broader social impact of early learning, especially in promoting girls’ education. Abdullahi explained that enrolling girls early helps delay pressures such as early marriage by keeping them within the education system at a formative stage. She added that ECCDE strengthens parental engagement, particularly among mothers, improving children’s attendance and academic progress.
Stakeholders, however, raised concerns over the low involvement of fathers in early childhood education, noting that fewer than 15 per cent actively participate. They argued that increasing male involvement could reduce dropout rates by up to 50 per cent, given fathers’ influence in household decisions. Community-based advocacy, engagement through mosques, and structured father-child programmes were recommended as practical solutions.
On the economic front, experts described ECCDE as a high-impact investment, estimating an annual cost of about N45,000 per child, with returns ranging between N7 and N13 for every N1 invested. They emphasised that investing in early learning would not only improve educational outcomes but also reduce future spending on remedial education, social services, and security interventions.
Ongoing initiatives across the Northwest, including the integration of Tsangaya schools into formal education in Jigawa, community-driven ECCDE centres in Kano, and UNICEF-supported catch-up programmes in Katsina, are already making progress. However, stakeholders insisted that more decisive policy action is needed.
They called for the expansion of ECCDE centres to all primary schools nationwide, the allocation of at least five per cent of education budgets to early learning, increased training of qualified teachers, and the integration of traditional and religious education into the formal system.
With millions of children still out of school, stakeholders concluded that strengthening early childhood education through deliberate investment and quality implementation remains Nigeria’s most effective path toward securing the future of its young population and stabilising its education system.