Ten-year-old Joshua from Nigeria’s southwestern Lagos state was forced to drop out of primary school when his parents could no longer afford the fees and the cost of books and uniforms. His dream of education was shattered and he currently has no hope of returning to school and instead works as a house help at the weekends and as a street hawker — a far cry from the opportunities he once hoped for.
Similarly, Terka, a 13-year-old from the central-north Benue State, had his education disrupted when his village was attacked by armed herdsmen. Forced to flee with his family, Terka now lives in an internally displaced persons camp where access to formal education is scarce.
Joshua and Terka are just two examples of the millions of Nigerian children who are either out of school or lack the basic literacy and numeracy skills needed to thrive — not just as global citizens but even in their native communities.
Future of millions of children at stake
Nigeria’s literacy rate reached 69% in 2022, marking a gradual but modest rise of about 17% over the last 15 years. However, beneath these numbers lie stark disparities — rural vs. urban, male vs. female, and region vs. region — highlighting the need for a more targeted approach to close the existing gaps and ensure that no one is left behind in the nation’s literacy journey.
Nigeria is home to over 20% of the world’s out-of-school children — over 18 million 5-14-year-olds are missing from the classroom. This stark reality is underscored by a 2024 UNICEF report that reveals that only 26% of Nigerian children and adolescents aged 7-14 possess basic reading and math skills, highlighting the nation’s deep-rooted education crisis.
The odds are stacked against Nigeria meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 4 for quality and equitable education. The alarmingly high rates of illiteracy in rural and vulnerable communities stem from a complex web of issues. Insecurity, triggered largely by armed conflicts, particularly in the northern regions, has displaced families and closed schools. The north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe saw 113 schools close down in 2022-2023 following armed attacks.
Socio-economic and gender inequality continue to marginalize millions, while poverty remains a formidable barrier, with 87 million Nigerians out of the almost 232 million population living below the poverty line.
Infrastructure in education is another major stumbling block with the shortage of qualified teachers, learning materials, and inadequate school facilities leaving students underserved. The country’s public primary education system faces a shortage of over 165,000 teachers. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s education budget remains far below UNESCO’s recommended 15-20% and has hovered between 5-9% over the last few years. This underinvestment makes it even harder to close the literacy gap and build a future in which all Nigerians can thrive.
Impact of illiteracy in Nigeria
With a 31% illiteracy rate — which is equivalent to 62 million being illiterate out of the estimated 232 million population and with a much higher percentage not attending school, experts worry that maintaining an economically stable Nigeria may prove to be a challenging task.
Nigeria’s low literacy rate has a massive impact on social inequality, economic growth, health and well-being, civic involvement, governance, and security and stability.
The former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, asserts that low literacy levels are directly linked to economic progress, reduce workforce productivity, limit entrepreneurial innovation, and contribute to economic inequality.
Prof. Ismail Junaidu, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, also highlights that low literacy rates exacerbate social inequality, particularly among rural and marginalized communities. This literacy gap perpetuates poverty and limits access to better life opportunities, trapping generations in cycles of deprivation.
According to UNICEF, illiteracy is a significant obstacle to health literacy and influences people’s capacity to make health-related decisions which results in reduced life expectancy, increased infant mortality, and the spread of diseases that could be prevented.
Low literacy rates further exacerbate insecurity and instability since unemployed and illiterate youth are more likely to be recruited by extremist groups, and places with greater rates of illiteracy tend to experience more violence.
Efforts to change the trend
To help to curb this crisis, the Nigerian government, international organizations, and NGOs have joined efforts to reach out to vulnerable learners across the country. The Ministry of Education recently launched a 2024-2027 roadmap to reintegrate 15 million out-of-school children into classrooms, with the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children being established to improve collaboration between federal and state governments and integrate non-formal education systems.
International organizations are working to address the literacy crisis in Nigeria by implementing programs and initiatives aimed at increasing access to quality education, particularly for vulnerable groups like girls, rural children, and youth in underserved communities.
Knosk secondary school in Kuje, Abuja is a private non-profit institution that offers a unique education to low-income families. Founded in 2019, the school charges students N100 (approximately $0.25) a day which covers textbooks, clothing, meals, and even sanitary pads for girls. As of 2023, the school had 107 students and 28 teachers and had maintained a 0% drop-out rate due to its action-oriented learning strategy.
Slum2School Africa is a non-profit organization created in 2012 to solve the educational obstacles encountered by underprivileged children in Nigeria’s neglected neighborhoods. The organization has reached 675,502 children in 554 areas, with over 41,000 volunteers supporting its activities.
USAID’s US$48.8 million LEARN to Read initiative aims to improve early-grade reading abilities for 3.5 million children over the next five years. The initiative will help around 35,000 teachers, principals, and school support officers in over 6,000 schools to improve the reading skills of millions of students.
The EU and UNICEF’s Education Empowerment Initiative, supported by a €40 million investment, aims to improve access to inclusive, high-quality basic education, notably for girls and other disadvantaged populations. The scheme will also train or retrain 30% of current instructors to improve educational delivery.
Local and international experts note that Nigeria must increase its educational budget, introduce targeted interventions for vulnerable learners, and develop partnerships that address systemic literacy hurdles. The country’s future rests on making sure that all its citizens, regardless of background, have the chance to study, grow, and contribute to national progress. Without broad and consistent efforts, the literacy gap will continue to prevent Nigeria from reaching its full potential.
