UNICEF wants funding for education as top priority in Presidential manifestos

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund has said 75 per cent of Nigerian children between the ages of seven and 14 years cannot read a simple sentence or even solve basic mathematics problem.

UNICEF Nigeria representative, Cristian Munduate, said this in a statement on Tuesday to mark this year’s International Day of Education.

Munduate further urged the presidential candidates to include education as one of their priorities ahead of the elections.

Munduate said, “On this International Day of Education, I join the global call to invest in people, prioritise education and deliver on the commitments made by the President Muhammadu Buhari, at the UN Secretary General’s Transforming Education Summit in September 2022 to end the global learning crisis.

“In Nigeria, 75 per cent of children aged 7 to 14 years cannot read a simple sentence or solve a basic math problem. For children to be able to read to learn, they must be able to learn to read in the first three years of schooling.

“As Nigeria’s presidential elections draw near, on behalf of UNICEF and the children in Nigeria, I call on all presidential candidates to include adequate investments in education as a top priority in their manifestos.”