jasdooit

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has stated that at least 300,000 children are currently not attending school in Katsina State.

The head of the UNICEF Field Office in Kano, Rahama Farah, revealed this Thursday during the launch of the Nigerian Child 2025 Report at an event marking World Children’s Day in Kano.

Hosted by the Kano State Radio Corporation in partnership with UNICEF, World Children’s Day gathered reporters from Katsina, Kano, and Jigawa States.

Farah, who referenced the 2025 report created by UNICEF, mentioned that Katsina, Kano, and Jigawa States make up 16 percent of Nigeria’s 10.2 million children not attending school.

He stated that Katsina has 300,000 children not attending school, while Kano has 900,000, and Jigawa state has more than 330,000 children wandering the streets.

“Katsina, Kano, and Jigawa collectively represent 16 percent of Nigeria’s 10.2 million children who are not in school. Katsina has over 300,000 children out of school, Kano almost 900,000, and Jigawa more than 330,000,” he stated.

Referencing another report from the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS 2024), Farah highlighted that Katsina has 64.6 per cent of children with stunted growth, Kano at 51.9 per cent, and Jigawa with 55.7 per cent.

He mentioned that children in rural areas within the three states encounter obstacles related to health and nutrition, but with assistance from UNICEF, “they are surmounting these difficulties.”

He stated: “The UNICEF Kano Field Office has been collaborating with the governments of Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa States to tackle the developmental issues impacting children, as outlined in the Nigerian Child 2025 report.”

He emphasized once again that the partnership between UNICEF and the Katsina State Government has led to greater government funding aimed at tackling severe acute malnutrition within the state.

He stated that the Katsina State Government has provided more than N1 billion for the purchase of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) through the Child Nutrition Match Fund (CNF).

Farah added that the governments of Jigawa and Kano States have each provided N1 billion for the purchase of RUTF to address the current instances of malnutrition.

Copyright 2025 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media ().

Tagged: Nigeria, West Africa

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).