Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school in the world – UNESCO

According to a new report by UN’s cultural and education agency, UNESCO, Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school in the world.

It estimates that at least 10 million Nigerian children, mostly girls, are missing out on education. Despite the country having a law making school attendance compulsory, millions of children still roam the streets to beg or to do manual labour.

The government says that a school-feeding programme – launched in 2016 – is benefiting close to 10 million children and is helping to keep them in school. However, this intervention is facing allegations of corruption and dishonest dealings by some of the officials handling it at local levels, a situation that the authorities acknowledge and say they’re trying to address, the report said. 

Unesco says the world will miss its target of having full transition of children to primary school by 2030 as part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and warns that at least one in six children will be dropping out by