The Kaduna State Government has intensified efforts to tackle illiteracy and the out-of-school children crisis through its Reaching Out-of-School Children project, targeting the return of 100,000 children to formal and non-formal learning across the 23 Local Government Areas.

The four-year ROOSC project is supported by the Islamic Development Bank, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Global Partnership for Education, Education Above All, Save the Children International and UNICEF, with a funding package of $62.8m.

Speaking at a media parley in Kaduna on Wednesday to mark the 2026 International Literacy Day, the Project Coordinator, Kaduna State ROOSC Project, Ezra Angai, said the intervention was designed to tackle the barriers preventing children from accessing education.

Angai said the state’s comprehensive mapping exercise covering about 360,000 households identified 187,719 out-of-school children, with details of their locations and reasons for being out of school.

“We visited 360,000 households and identified 187,719 out-of-school children,” he said.

“These are not children who are just numbers that cannot be found; their addresses, their names, their location, and the reason why they are out of school are clearly spelt out.”

He said more than 90 per cent of the children were out of school because of household-related challenges, while boys constituted about 57 per cent of the affected population.

“About 57 per cent of that population are boys, who have to go to the farm, who have to go to other business ventures to be able to keep the household going,” Angai explained.

He said poverty was a major factor behind school exclusion, stressing that interventions must address household needs alongside education.

“If parents have more money in their pockets, then they will feel less pressure to send their children to go out to hawk,” he stated.

Under the project, 102 new schools are being constructed while 170 existing schools are being renovated, with work ongoing at 42 sites.

Angai said the project had also incorporated Sangayas into the education system by introducing foundational literacy, numeracy and life skills alongside religious instruction.

He said over-age children between 11 and 17 years were being enrolled through the Accelerated Basic Education Programme, which condenses basic education into two years and six months.

“If we restrict ourselves to one learning pathway, that means going to formal schools; they are going to be excluded for life,” he said.

The coordinator disclosed that 44,000 teaching and learning materials had been distributed, while radio learning was being used in hard-to-reach communities.

He said the project had also provided assistive devices and medical support to children living with disabilities, citing the case of a boy, Israel, who was given a wheelchair and physiotherapy support.

“It is physiotherapy, actually. But two things also happen, because whenever he’s not in the wheelchair, his mom has to carry him about,” Angai said.

He added that more than 2,000 menstrual health and hygiene materials had been distributed to girls to reduce school absenteeism.

“We don’t want girls to miss five days of schooling because they are on their period,” he stated.

Angai said community coalitions comprising traditional rulers, religious leaders, parents and School-Based Management Committee members had also been established to ensure that children remained in school.

“These community coalitions are responsible for implementation, ensuring that children go to school, are enrolled, and children stay in school,” he said.

He added that caseworkers monitored attendance and intervened when children dropped out, while the project operated several layers of monitoring involving the Project Management Unit, Save the Children International, SUBEB, the Ministry of Education and the Kaduna State Quality Assurance Authority.

Angai said the $62.8m funding was sufficient to achieve the project’s immediate target.

“Is the funding enough? Yes, the funding is enough for us to execute this programme and return 100,000 out-of-school children to school, which is our commitment,” he said.

He added that the project’s ultimate goal was to ensure that no child was excluded from education.

“The whole idea for the Kaduna State Government is that no child is left behind,” Angai stated.