Save Our Education Nigeria Advocacy Briefing

In early April 2020, to halt the spread of COVID-19, an estimated 1.6 billion learners globally – 91% of the total – were out of school. For the first time in human history, an entire generation of children globally have had their education disrupted. This emergency comes on top of an existing learning crisis. UNESCO’s most recent projections for Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) – a good quality education for every child – are dire: they predict almost no progress on reducing the number of children who are out of school by 2030. This equates to millions of children not going to school and not learning. And a generation of children consigned to poorer life chances.

According to new analysis by Save the Children published in Save Our Education, Nigeria ranks ninth globally amongst countries at extreme risk of school dropouts and widening learning inequalities.

Following the first recorded case of COVID-19 on 27 February 2020, the Federal Ministry of Education ordered the closure of schools on 23^rd March 2020, which affected more than 46 million children. Within an already weakened state, COVID-19 will only serve to compound pre-existing education inequalities.

This advocacy briefing highlights the impact of COVID-19 on children’s learning in Nigeria, and provides recommendations for how the Government of Nigeria, together with donors and multi-lateral institutions can protect a generation and ensure that education is at the heart of response and recovery plans.