The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has revealed that Nigeria has 154,000 early childhood teachers who are responsible for seven million learners.
UNICEF’s education specialist, Yetunde Oluwatosin, who revealed this yesterday in Sokoto, at a two-day media dialogue on early childhood education in Nigeria, said fewer than 1 in 3 children, aged between 3 and 4 attend ECE in Nigeria, 36 percent of the figure attend early childhood education, noting that 10 million are not enrolled.
“Nigeria has over seven million learners but has only 154, 000 teachers. To close the gap, more teachers who are qualified and understand the importance of play in learning outcomes need to be enrolled.” She said.
she added that, at age 5, a child must have started school, adding that the curriculum for early childhood education plays a vital role as it indicates “play-base in addition to nutrition, safety and environment for holistic growth”.
