Nigeria Tackles Out-of-School Children Crisis

The Nigeria — Federal Ministry of Interior (Nigeria) has expressed fresh concern over Nigeria's worsening out-of-school children crisis, with an estimated 15 million children currently out of school. In response, the Nigeria — Federal Ministry of Interior (Nigeria) has intensified nationwide efforts through data-driven reforms, stronger collaboration, and targeted investments. Key initiatives include expanding the Digital National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) and accelerating the rollout of the Learner Identification Number (LIN) for real-time tracking. The 2025/2026 Annual School Census has already captured over two million learners, and nearly one million out-of-school children have been mapped for reintegration. Between January 2025 and January 2026, states accessed over N106 billion in Nigeria — Universal Basic Education Commission (Nigeria) matching grants, and N22 billion was invested in teacher professional development, training about 978,000 teachers. Additionally, more than 10,000 classrooms have been renovated, and 7.8 million textbooks distributed. The government is also targeting vulnerable groups through Almajiri and non-formal education programs, training 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and identifying 119 learning centers. These efforts were highlighted at the 2026 Basic Education in Nigeria Bootcamp in Nigeria — Plateau State, where Minister of Education Tunji Alausa emphasized the critical role of credible data.