Only 9.6 percent of primary school pupils in Kano have reading proficiency and 11.2 percent possess basic numeracy skills.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF Chief of Kano Field office, Mr Rahama Mohammed, made the disclosure during a news conference to mark the 2025 International Day for Education on Friday in Kano.
Mohammed, who described this years theme” AI and Education: Preserving Human Agency in a World of Automation” as timely, called for increased investment in education.
He said the Kano state is grappling with a severe education crisis, with nearly one million children out of school, based on the latest data from the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS).
The UNICEF head explained that the report further indicated that 989,234 children of primary school age, or roughly 32 per cent of the population, were currently not enrolled in formal education in the state.
He added that in response to the alarming trend, UNICEF had been actively supporting educational reforms in the states particularly through the integration of Quranic schools into the formal education system and training over 290 Mallams and proprietors of Quranic schools across Kano and Jigawa states.
The UNICEF Kano Field Office Chief said the effort is in addition to improving school infrastructure, climate change resilience and the construction of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities among other interventions.
UNICEF reiterated its commitment to collaborating and supporting state governments’ initiatives aimed at improving the education sector.