[{"bbox": [96, 152, 1136, 394], "category": "Text", "text": "implementation is inadequate. For instance, the federal government has enacted the universal basic education of free and compulsory basic education law since 2004 (updated in 2014) for the first 10 years of children's education, but this has been poorly implemented, if at all, and has resulted in inefficient allocation of the limited resources and poor budget execution of government funding to education. At national and local levels, the sector can boast of myriads of monitoring and data collection and analysis mechanisms including the Education Information Management Systems. All these have been noted to be unreliable, inconsistent and most times non-functional, and therefore unable to inform evidence-based policymaking and implementation. This new action will support the strengthening of the education system to make plans/policies and enact reforms including improvement in the implementation of already existing plans and strategies."}, {"bbox": [96, 403, 1136, 882], "category": "Text", "text": "Another major issue of concern to be addressed by this action is the lack of access and low quality of basic education measured in terms of low enrolment, attendance, poor retention, and transition and completion rates especially from primary to the Junior Secondary School and from Junior Secondary to Senior Secondary. On the supply side, the expansion of school infrastructure has not kept pace with the rapid growth in primary enrolment or the raising transition rates to secondary school. This includes the lack or little emphasis on continuous teacher capacity development and motivation resulting in extremely low teacher quality and ultimately in low learning outcomes. Most children who are enrolled in schools are not learning or learning very little, as evident in measured literacy and numeracy test scores. Variously, the main cause of the low-quality basic education could be traced to teacher's lack of formal qualification, lack of required content knowledge and lack of skills for effective teaching. Other causes include the evidence of overcrowded classrooms and lack of transport in the urban areas and poorly staffed schools in rural areas; meaning that management and deployment of teachers is also a concern. In addition to these constraints that impede access and quality education are distant school facilities, safety and security, poor learning environment, and the unavailability of teaching and learning materials and equipment (pen, pencils, notebooks, textbooks, blackboards, chalks, etc.). In addition, the poor conditions of infrastructure and lack of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH facilities) impede girls' attendance and retention in school, and most schools are inaccessible to children with physical disabilities. This new action would ensure the provision of sustainable safe and adequate learning environment including sufficient and adequate teaching and learning facilities and materials, inclusive of water and sanitation facilities for girls and boys."}, {"bbox": [96, 892, 1136, 1319], "category": "Text", "text": "Demand-side constraints, chronically present in rural and low-literacy environments, mean that children start primary school unprepared. This, in turn, leads to limited learning and worse long-term welfare outcomes. Financial costs (including opportunity costs of household work, and petty trading), lack of perceived value (including of future employment opportunities), harmful gender norms and stereotypes, and religious practices often prevent girls from accessing and completing basic education. Poorer households are less likely to send their daughters to school, especially at the secondary level. Direct costs (school fees), indirect costs (uniforms, transport), and opportunity costs lead to high education expenses for secondary children. When costs are high and resources limited, households generally prefer to educate boys over girls. The worsening economic situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine disruption skyrocketing food prices <sup>15</sup> are exacerbating such financial struggles. In many communities, girls' education is also hindered by the gendered division of household labour, with girls often expected to contribute to providing care for younger siblings, engaging in farming activities, or other domestic chores. This perception is reinforced by a lack of formal jobs and examples of educated women in the local communities who have improved their economic status. The high prevalence of early marriage and teenage pregnancies also lead girls dropping out of the school system entirely. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the learning crisis, and this has exacerbated long-standing gender inequalities by increasing early marriage and reducing school enrolment, particularly for girls."}, {"bbox": [96, 1329, 1136, 1464], "category": "Text", "text": "Another important issue is the effect that the lack of access and low quality of basic education has on inequality reduction. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the 2019 Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria report<sup>16</sup>, which highlights that 40% of the total population, or almost 83 million people, live below the country's poverty line of 137,430 naira (USD381.75) per year<sup>17</sup>. Public education has long been described as 'the Great Equalizer' because of its transformative power for individuals and society. Investment in increasing education levels has a"}, {"bbox": [86, 1505, 332, 1529], "category": "Footnote", "text": "15 UN FAO Food Price Index"}, {"bbox": [86, 1530, 601, 1557], "category": "Footnote", "text": "16 Reports | National Bureau of Statistics (nigerianstat.gov.ng)"}, {"bbox": [86, 1556, 393, 1581], "category": "Footnote", "text": "17 https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1680, 1144, 1705], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 8 of 29"}]