Jigawa, Kano and Katsina, have been identified as states with the highest number of out-of-school children crisis as UNICEF stressed that urgent investment in early childhood education remained critical to turning the tide.

According to UNICEF, Nigeria currently accounts for about 18.

An education consultant with UNICEF Kano Field Office, Aisha Abdullahi, disclosed this at a two-day dialogue for journalists from Jigawa, Kano and Katsina states.

She spoke while presenting a paper on foundation learning and skills development, noting that the states alone contribute nearly 30 per cent of the figure, driven by poverty, insecurity, cultural barriers, and poor school readiness.

Abdullahi stressed that Early Childhood Care, Development and Education (ECCDE) offers a strategic and long-term solution, capable of preventing children from falling out of the education system before they even begin.

She emphasised that tackling the crisis requires a shift from reactive interventions to preventive strategies, with early childhood education forming the bedrock of lifelong learning.

 “Early childhood education is not just a preparatory stage but a strategic intervention to reduce the number of out-of-school children,” Abdullahi said.

According to her, ECCDE targets children from birth to age five, equipping them with essential cognitive, emotional and social skills needed to thrive in formal schooling.

She noted that children exposed to early learning are significantly more likely to enroll in school, stay longer and complete their education, while those who miss such opportunities are twice as likely to drop out.

Abdullahi cited research indicating that nearly 90 per cent of brain development occurs before the age of five, making early learning a critical window for intervention.

Despite policy provisions incorporating one year of pre-primary education into Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education framework, she observed that access to ECCDE remains limited, particularly in rural communities.

She added that areas with functional ECCDE centres record up to 40 per cent higher enrolment into Primary One, alongside improved retention rates.

The UNICEF expert also highlighted the role of early childhood education in advancing girls’ education, noting that early exposure helps delay societal pressures such as early marriage, while strengthening parental engagement, especially among mothers.

However, stakeholders at the dialogue expressed concern over the low involvement of fathers in early learning, revealing that less than 15 per cent actively participate across the region.

They noted that increasing male involvement could cut dropout rates by up to 50 per cent, given fathers’ influence in household decisions, and recommended community advocacy, mosque engagement and structured father-child programmes to bridge the gap.

Despite these efforts, participants called for urgent policy action, including expanding ECCDE across all primary schools, allocating at least five per cent of education budgets to early learning, training more teachers and integrating traditional and religious education systems.

They maintained that strengthening early childhood education through adequate investment and quality delivery remains the most effective pathway to tackling Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has extended the sale of application forms for the 2026 Direct Entry (DE) admission exercise to May 8.

The board announced the extension in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Benjamin said the decision was aimed at ensuring that no eligible candidate was denied access to tertiary education.

He said the extension replaces the earlier deadline for the exercise.

He also disclosed that five additional registration centres had been approved to ease pressure in high-demand locations.

The approved centres are the Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL), Mini Campus, University of Ilorin, Kwara; Bells University of Technology, and Olabisi Onabanjo University Centre 1, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun.

Others are the Prof. Usman E-Learning Centre, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo State; and Human Development Initiatives (Grace House), No. 2 Iwaya, Sabo, opposite Onike Girls Junior High School, Onike, Lagos.

Benjamin urged prospective candidates to take advantage of the extension, noting that JAMB offices nationwide, including Professional Registration Centres (PRCs) and Professional Testing Centres (PTCs), remained open for registration.

The Federal Government has introduced a National Textbook Ranking System for Primary, Junior and Senior Secondary Schools nationwide as part of efforts to strengthen quality assurance and standardisation in the education sector.

Minister of Education, Dr.

Alausa said that the initiative would address the proliferation of textbooks in schools and ensure that only high-quality, curriculum-compliant learning materials were approved for classroom use.

The minister explained that under the new system, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) would retain its statutory responsibility for approving textbooks for Nigerian schools.

Beyond the approval, Alausa said textbooks would now undergo a structured national evaluation process with NERDC ranking to determine the most suitable and highest-quality options for each subject and level of education.

He added that NERDC would establish Standing Subject Committees made up of experts in relevant disciplines to conduct rigorous reviews of textbooks submitted by publishers.

He noted that the committees would assess the materials based on clearly defined academic and pedagogical standards before ranking and approving a limited number of textbooks for classroom use.

According to him, the reform is expected to reduce the excessive number of textbooks currently in circulation, which has often created confusion for teachers, students and parents.

“The ranking system will introduce transparency, order and quality assurance into the textbook approval process while aligning Nigeria’s education system with international best practices in instructional material standardisation,” he said.

Alausa added that any textbook not ranked under the new system would no longer be permitted for use in Nigerian schools, regardless of prior licensing status.

He said that the federal government would engage teachers and other stakeholders to ensure adequate awareness and compliance with the new policy framework.

He said the implementation of the new ranking system would start from the September academic session following the establishment of the Standing Subject Committees and completion of the evaluation framework.