UBEC: Only 35.6% of Children Aged 36-59 Months Attend Early Childhood Education

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

Only 35.6 per cent of Nigerian children aged 36 to 59 months are currently enrolled in any form of Early Childhood Care, Development and Education (ECCDE), leaving millions outside the system. The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) disclosed this yesterday in Abuja.

UBEC warned that the low enrolment was responsible for poor learning outcomes and high dropouts in basic education.

UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr. Aisha Garba, who spoke at a three-day workshop on ECCDE Minimum Standards and Implementation Guidelines, said the figure meant about 10 million of Nigeria’s youngest children were not captured in early learning.

Represented by Deputy Executive Secretary (Technical), Rasaq Olajuwon Akinyemi, Garba said the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) showed that 46 per cent of children aged 24 to 59 months were developmentally off-track.

She stated, “Only 35.6 per cent of Nigerian children aged 36 to 59 months attend any form of early childhood education. That leaves roughly 10 million of our youngest children outside ECCDE altogether.”

She linked the poor foundation to learning crisis at higher levels, stating that 70 per cent of Nigerian 10-year-olds could not read and understand a simple text, and of 5.9 million children who enter primary one each year, only about 2.4 million remain in school by the end of Junior Secondary School.

“There is no cheaper place in the education system to buy results,” Garba said, citing Nobel Laureate James Heckman’s research that high-quality birth-to-five programmes yield about 13 per cent return per child annually.

She said ECCDE must be treated as an integrated national priority involving health, nutrition, water and sanitation, women affairs, social welfare, and education.

Garba also cited the 2023-24 NDHS, which put stunting in under-5 children at 40 per cent nationally, 12 per cent in Rivers State, and as high as 65 per cent in Katsina State.

She directed states to include ECCDE in their State Matching Grant Action Plans, warning that anything not in the plan will not be funded.

She announced an extension for submission of ECCDE Action Plans from September 30 to October 5, 2026, but said late entries will be rejected.

Garba ordered states to ensure ECCDE centres met minimum standards on child safety, supervision, safeguarding, food and water safety and emergency exits, and that children with disabilities and those in nomadic, riverine, hard-to-reach, and conflict-affected communities were included.

She called for stronger engagement with parents, School-Based Management Committees, traditional, and religious leaders to reach children outside conventional classrooms.

Acting Director, Special Programmes and Early Childhood, UBEC, Dr. Chijioke J. Onwuzurike, said Nigeria had over 45 early childhood delivery channels across health, nutrition, education, agriculture, and social protection, but they were fragmented and duplicated efforts.

Onwuzurike said in the next 18 months, states were expected to map and streamline their platforms and establish functional multi-sectoral coordination.

“School readiness is not something that begins at the primary school gate; by the time a child reaches that gate, it is largely decided,” she said.

UNICEF Education Specialist, Yetunde Oluwatosin, said getting early childhood right was critical to solving Nigeria’s out-of-school problem.

“So, it’s really important for us to get the foundation right, because it helps the child to continue learning,” Oluwatosin said.

He stated that UNICEF supported government to develop ECCD policy, minimum standards, and curriculum benchmarked to global standards.