The rate of adult literacy as share of the country's population 15 years and above in Nigeria increased by 1.1 percentage points (+1.77 percent) in 2021 in comparison to the previous year. While the growth is slowing down, with 63.16 percent, the rate of adult literacy is at its peak in the observed period. The adult literacy rate refers to the share of individuals aged 15 years and older who can read and write as well as understand simple expressions about their daily lives.

School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) in Nigeria was reported at 11.81 % in 2018, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Nigeria - School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

School enrollment, secondary (% gross) in Nigeria was reported at 47.24 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Nigeria - School enrollment, secondary (% gross) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

As of 2020, around ** percent of the young population in Nigeria had secondary education as their highest educational level. Moreover, some ** percent had achieved the post-secondary level of education, while ** percent had completed primary education.

Abstract

The Service Delivery Indicators (SDI) are a set of health and education indicators that examine the effort and ability of staff and the availability of key inputs and resources that contribute to a functioning school or health facility. The indicators are standardized allowing comparison between and within countries over time.

The Education SDIs include teacher effort, teacher knowledge and ability, and the availability of key inputs (for example, textbooks, basic teaching equipment, and infrastructure such as blackboards and toilets). The indicators provide a snapshot of the learning environment and the key resources necessary for students to learn.

Nigeria Service Delivery Indicators Education Survey was implemented in 2013 by the World Bank and the Research Triangle Institute International. The survey implementation was preceded by consultations with stakeholders in Nigeria to adapt instruments to the country context while maintaining comparability across countries. In addition, the implementation was done with close collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission, and in close coordination with the relevant state authorities (i.e. State Ministries of Education, and the State Universal Education Boards where they existed). Data was collected from primary schools in four states (Anambra, Bauchi, Ekiti, and Niger) using personal interviews and provider assessments. A total of 760 randomly selected public and private schools (190 per state) were surveyed, with 2,435 and 5,754 teachers assessed for knowledge and effort respectively. The sample was selected to make the survey representative at the State level, allowing for disaggregation by provider type (private/public) and location (rural/urban).

Geographic coverage

Four states: Anambra, Bauchi, Ekiti, and Niger.

Analysis unit

Schools, teachers, students.

Universe

All primary schools.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling strategy was designed aiming to produce state representative estimates and estimating a proportion with an absolute error of three percentage points for a variable proportion of 0.5 (i.e., has highest variance) with 95 percent degree of confidence per state (equal number used for state).

The strata were constructed according to ownership, urban/rural, and socioeconomic poverty status. The allocation was made in proportion to size for each sub-stratum within public and private. Within strata, simple random sampling was used. Finally, replacement schools were preselected, with a predetermined replacement order within strata.

A total of 190 schools were sampled from each of the four states (Anambra, Bauchi, Ekiti, and Niger).

The target population is all public primary-level school children. Since parts of the school questionnaire were administered to teachers and pupils at the grade four level, all public schools with at least one grade four class formed the sampling frame. The sample frame was created using the list of public schools from UBEC (Universal Basic Education Commission) and private schools from states.

Sampling deviation

None.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The SDI Education Survey Questionnaire consists of six modules:

Module 1: School Information - Administered to the head of the school to collect information on school type, facilities, school governance, pupil numbers, and school hours. It includes direct observations of school infrastructure by enumerators.

Module 2a: Teacher Absence and Information - Administered to the headteacher and individual teachers to obtain a list of all schoolteachers, to measure teacher absence and to collect information on teacher characteristics (this module was not included in this dataset).

Module 2b: Teacher Absence and Information - Unannounced visit to the school to assess absence rate.

Module 3: School Finances - Administered to the headteacher to collect information on school finances (this data is unharmonized).

Module 4: Classroom Observation - An observation module to assess teaching activities and classroom conditions.

Module 5: Pupil Assessment - A test of pupils to have a measure of pupil learning outcomes in mathematics and language in grade four.

Module 6: Teacher Assessment - A test of teachers covering mathematics and language subject knowledge and teaching skills.

Cleaning operations

Data entry was done using CSPro; quality control was performed in Stata.

Nigeria NG: Children Out of School: % of Primary School Age data was reported at 34.051 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 34.045 % for 2009. Nigeria NG: Children Out of School: % of Primary School Age data is updated yearly, averaging 33.855 % from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2010, with 9 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 36.922 % in 1999 and a record low of 28.363 % in 2007. Nigeria NG: Children Out of School: % of Primary School Age data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nigeria – Table NG.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Children out of school are the percentage of primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in primary or secondary school. Children in the official primary age group that are in preprimary education should be considered out of school.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Abstract

Executive Summary

Introduction
This report is based on the Nigeria Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 5) 2016-17, conducted between September 2016 and January 2017 by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with technical and financial support from UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Save One Million Lives and NACA. The survey provides statistically sound and internationally comparable data essential for developing evidence-based policies and programmes, and for monitoring progress toward national goals and global commitments. Among these global commitments are those emanating from the World Fit for Children Declaration and Plan of Action, the goals of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the Education for All Declaration and the Millennium/Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs/SDGs). The Nigeria Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2016-17 has been designed to measure achievements of MDGs and provide baseline for SDGs. More specifically, Nigeria MICS 2016-17 will assist UNICEF in monitoring and evaluating its country programmes including those on child survival, development, protection and rights of children, women and men.

Survey Objectives The objectives of Nigeria Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2016-17 are to: (1) provide up-to-date information for assessing the situation of children and women in Nigeria, (2) generate data for the critical assessment of the progress made in various programme areas, and to identify areas that require more attention, (3) contribute to the generation of baseline data for the SDG, (4) provide data needed for monitoring progress toward goals established in the post Millennium Declaration and other internationally agreed goals, as a basis for future action, (5) provide disaggregated data to identify disparities among various groups to enable evidence based actions aimed at social inclusion of the most vulnerable.

Sample and Survey Methodology
The sample for the Nigeria MICS 2016-17 was designed to provide estimates for a large number of indicators on the situation of children and women at the national, rural/urban, states as well as, the 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria. The states within each zone were identified as the main sampling Strata while the Enumeration Areas (EAs) within each state were identified as the Primary Sampling Units (PSUs). The EAs for the survey were selected from the National Integrated Survey of Households round 2 (NISH2) master samples, based on a list of EAs prepared for the 2006 Population Census. Two stage sampling was conducted with the first stage being the selection of EAs within the strata while the second stage was the selection of households within each EAs. Out of 37,440 households sampled, 35,747 households were visited, 34,289 were occupied and 33,901 were successfully interviewed, representing a household response rate of 98.9 percent. Of these, 34,376 women and 15,183 men age 15-49 years were successfully interviewed.

Questionnaires
Four sets of questionnaires were used in the survey; the household questionnaire, the individual women questionnaire, the individual men questionnaire and the under-five children questionnaire. These were the MICS5 standard questionnaires adapted to Nigeria situation.

Fieldwork and Data Processing
Training for the fieldwork was conducted for thirty-one (31) days in August 2016. The data were collected by 78 teams; each team comprised four interviewers, one driver, one measurer and a supervisor. Fieldwork began in September, 2016 and concluded in January 2017. Using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI), the data were electronically captured from the field and transmitted to a central server, using CSPro CAPI application, Version 5.0. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) software, Version 21. Model syntax and tabulation plans developed by UNICEF MICS team were customized and used for this purpose.

Characteristics of Households
The age structure of Nigeria shows a largely young population. Of the 182,165 household members enumerated, forty-Seven percent of the population are under the age of 15 years, contributing to the high dependency ratio in Nigeria. Households are traditionally headed by men, but a substantial proportion, about fifteen percent, of households were headed by women. Majority of Nigerian, 63.4 percent of households, reside in rural areas, with the North West region accounting for the highest proportion, 26.9 percent, while South East region has the least, 9.2 percent. Twenty-two percent of the household heads had no education, while 19.3 had primary education, 26.7 percent with Secondary / Secondary-technical and 16.3 percent had higher education.

Characteristics of Women, Men and Under five Children
Women: Majority of the woman are married, with 7 in 10 women age 15-49 years being currently married. About 23 percent of them had no education, 14.4 percent with primary education, while 36.3 had secondary education and 10.2 percent had higher education. Sixty-four percent of women resides in the rural areas.

Men: In contrast to the women, about half of eligible men were never married. Among the eligible men, 10.3 percent of them had no education, 13.2 percent with primary education, while 45.2 had secondary education and 17.3 percent had higher education. Similar to the women, most men, sixty-three percent, resides in the rural areas.

Children: There is a somewhat higher proportion of children in the rural areas, 69.5 percent, compared to the adult population. Likewise, a higher proportion of children under 5 years old were in the poorest households, 23 percent, compared to 17.8 percent in the richest households.

Child Mortality
MICS 5 estimate of neonatal mortality rate is 39 per 1,000 live births, while Infant mortality rate is 70 per 1,000 live births. This implies that 1 in 15 livebirths in Nigeria die before their first birthday according to the MICS5 2016-17 survey. Also, under-five mortality rate is estimated to be 120 per 1,000 live births – 1 in 9 live births die before their fifth birthday.

Urban-rural mortality differential is pronounced across early childhood age groups. As expected, mortality rates in urban areas are lower than rural areas in Nigeria. Also, mortality is higher in the poorer households, as one out of 6 children who lives in the poorest household in Nigeria die before their fifth birthday. Nine states in the northern region have higher U5 mortality rates than the national average: Nasarawa, Niger, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Zamfara. To achieve SDG 3.2, there must be at least 50 percent reduction in early childhood mortality rates before 2030 across all groups.

Nutrition
Three in 10 children under five years have acute, chronic or both malnutrition. Two in 5 children under five years are stunted and 1 in 5 children under 5 years are severely stunted. Fourteen in 36 states in Nigeria have wasting prevalence that are classified as serious for public health significance. Mothers with at least secondary education have higher proportion of obese children than those with lower and non-formal education. Quite a low proportion of mother, three out of 10, initiated early breastfeeding as recommended by WHO, however, 7 in 10 mothers eventually initiated breastfeeding within 24 hour of birth delivery. The 24 percent exclusive breastfeeding rate is yet to meet the WHO Global nutrition target of 50 percent. One in two infants is predominantly breastfed while just one in five is exclusively breastfed.

Salt Iodization
Iodized salt containing 15 ppm or more are consumed in 69 percent of sampled household with higher prevalence in South South and South East. There was slight variation in households using adequately iodized salt in urban and rural areas. Richer households consume adequately iodized salt more than others in poorer wealth quintile.

Low Birth Weight
Only one in 4 live births were weighed at birth, and fifteen percent of these births are classified as low weight because they are less than 2,500 grams at birth. Although more babies are weighed at birth in the southern part of the country, the proportion of low birth weights babies is less than 20 percent across all the geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

Child health Vaccination coverage is an important indicator of Immunization, one of the cost-effective means of ending preventable deaths of newborn and under 5 children. Eighteen percent of children age 12-23 months received all recommended vaccination by their first birthday in the survey. Specific vaccine coverage are 35 percent for Tuberculosis; 34 percent coverage for polio, 30 percent coverage for pentavalent vaccine, 39 percent coverage for Measles and 36 percent coverage for yellow fever. The MICS 2016-17 survey also showed that about half of women with a live birth in the last two years prior to the survey received antenatal tetanus toxoid, which protected against neonatal tetanus.

Malaria prevention in pregnancy was adequate in only one out of 6 women age 15-49 years, who received three or more doses of SP/Fansidar during their last pregnancy that led to a live birth in the last 2 years. Reported illnesses in under-five children, two weeks preceding survey, are diarrhoea in 14.3 percent, ARI in 3 percent, and malaria fever in 25.4 percent of children under five.

Water and Sanitation Access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is essential to human health. Sixty-four percent of household members use improved sources of drinking water. Only 2.3 percent of households using unimproved drinking water sources have appropriate water treatment method. About fifty-two percent of household population use improved sanitation facility, mostly using pit latrine with slab and flush

In the academic year 2018/2019, Nigerian universities counted 1.8 million undergraduate students and 242 thousand postgraduate students. Among master students, women accounted for 38 percent of the total, while the female percentage among bachelor students was 44 percent.

Nigeria's largest university is the National Open University of Nigeria, which had over half million students as of 2019.

Abstract

The 2004 Nigeria DHS EdData Survey (NDES) was a nationally representative sample survey covering 4,268 households, 3,987 parent/guardians, 81 independent children age 13-16, and 9,695 children age 4-16. The primary objective of the 2004 NDES is to provide upto date household-based information on education among children of primary and secondary school age in order to inform the development, monitoring, and evaluation of education programmes in Nigeria. The survey focuses on the factors influencing household decisions about children’s school attendance. In addition, information is available on school attendance, costs of schooling (monetary and non-monetary) and parent/guardian attitudes about schooling. The 2004 NDES was the first education survey of its kind in Nigeria, and was linked to the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). The survey report (available under External Resources) presents information on adult educational attainment, children’s characteristics and rates of school attendance, absenteeism among primary school pupils and secondary school students, household expenditures on schooling and other contributions to schooling, and parent/guardian perceptions of schooling, among other topics.

The sample size for both the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey and the 2004 NDES was sufficiently large to provide estimates for indicators at the national level, by urban-rural residence, and at the regional level for most indicators. Twelve survey teams trained by the National Population Commission (NPC), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education (FMOE), conducted the survey from February to July 2004.

Geographic coverage

National Coverage

Analysis unit

Individuals Households

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample for the 2004 NDES is based on the sampling frame for the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey, which was designed to provide estimates of health and demographic indicators for the country as a whole, urban and rural areas, and six geo-political zones (hereafter referred to as regions). This discussion will first address the sample design for the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey, then the subsequent design for the 2004 NDES.

The 2003 Nigeria DHS sample points (clusters) were systematically selected from a list of enumeration areas (EAs) defined in the 1991 Population Census. A total of 365 clusters was drawn from the census sample frame. After selecting the 365 clusters, the NPC trained teams to conduct the comprehensive listing of households and to update maps in the selected clusters. Following the listing operation, households to be included in the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey were selected, with the number of households selected per cluster being inversely proportional to the size of the cluster. In the 2003 Nigeria DHS sampling frame, the number of households by region was disproportional to population size, in order to have adequate numbers of cases for reporting by region. For both the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey and the 2004 NDES, the sample was constructed to allow for separate estimates for key indicators in each of the six geo-political regions in Nigeria (North Central, North East, North West, South East, South South, and South West), with the result that the sample is not selfweighting at the national level.

Of the 365 clusters selected for the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey, 362 were successfully sampled. For the 2004 NDES, all of the 362 clusters completed for the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey were selected, and within those clusters, all households with children in the eligible child age range (4-16) were selected, comprising 4,563 households with one or more children age 4-16. Of these 362 clusters, 360 clusters were successfully completed for the 2004 NDES.

Sampling deviation

Of the 4,563 potential households selected, the 2004 NDES fieldwork teams successfully interviewed 4,268 households. The main reason that potential households were not interviewed was that the household had moved.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Four questionnaires were used for the 2004 NDES: 1. The Household Questionnaire 2. The Parent/Guardian Questionnaire 3. The Eligible Child Questionnaire 4. The Independent Child Questionnaire These are all available under Appendix D of the Survey Report available under External Resources.

The Household questionnaire listed all of the people who were members of the household at the time the household was surveyed during the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey. The three purposes of the 2004 NDES Household Questionnaire were to: - Confirm that the household was the same household surveyed by the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey; - Identify which children were eligible (qualified) to be covered by the Eligible Child Questionnaire and those eligible to have anthropometric and literacy/numeracy data collected about them; and - Identify a parent or guardian as the respondent for each eligible child. Children who were age 4-16 at the time of the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey were eligible to be covered by the Eligible Child Questionnaire. Children age 4-9 at the time of the 2003 Nigeria DHS survey had their height and weight measured, and children age 4-12 were given a literacy/numeracy test.

The Parent/Guardian Questionnaire collected background information on each parent/guardian respondent and on general education issues. Information was collected on the parent/guardian’s age, education, literacy, and religion. Questions were asked about the walking time and distance to the nearest primary and secondary schools, as well as household support of and participation in school activities. Parent/guardians were also asked about their views on school quality, the benefits and disadvantages of schooling, and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education. In addition, information was collected on each primary school attended by the children for whom the parent/guardian responded, including the school type, location, and the reason for selection of that school.

The Eligible Child Questionnaire collected different kinds of information about each eligible child age 4-16, depending on the child’s schooling status. While the subject of the Eligible Child Questionnaire was the individual child and his/her schooling, the respondent for the questionnaire was the child’s parent/guardian, as the purpose of the questionnaire was to collect information on issues from the parent/guardian’s perspective. Data were collected on the following topics, according to a child’s schooling status: • Schooling background and participation during the 2003-2004 school year (attended school during the 2003-2004 school year, dropped out of school, or never attended school) • Frequency of and reasons for pupil absenteeism, household expenditures on schooling, and other costs of schooling (for children who attended school during the 2002-2003 school year) • Reasons for dropping out of school (for children who had dropped out of school) • Reasons for not attending school during the 2003-2004 school year (for children who had never attended school) • Children’s eating patterns

The Independent Child Questionnaire was used to interview directly a small percentage of the children age 13-16 in the selected households, rather than collecting information from a parent/guardian respondent. Independent children included those age 13-16 who were the head of the household, or the spouse of the head, or the son-in-law or daughter-in-law of the household head. Because these children did not have a parent/guardian who could answer questions about their schooling decisions, these children were interviewed directly. The same information was collected from these children themselves that otherwise would have been collected in the Eligible Child Questionnaire, and in terms of analysis, the data were grouped with data on other children in the eligible child age range.

The questionnaires were translated from English into three local languages—Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. Pretest training and fieldwork took place from 22 September to 4 October, 2003. For this exercise, six interviewers were trained (two per local language). The questionnaires were tested in Awka and Nibo (in Anambra State), Ibadan (in Oyo State), and Kano (in Kano State) in all languages, including English.

Cleaning operations

All questionnaires for the NDES were returned to the NPC headquarters in Abuja for data processing. Data processing consisted of office editing, the coding of open-ended questions, data entry, verification, and correcting of the computer-identified errors. A team of two data entry supervisors, a questionnaire administrator, three office editors, and ten data entry clerks processed the data. Data entry and editing started in late February, using the computer package CSPro (Census and Survey Processing System), which was specifically designed to process data from large-scale household surveys of this type. Data tables were produced using CSPro.

Response rate

A total of 4,354 households were occupied, of which 4,268 were successfully interviewed, for an overall response rate of 98 percent. The household response rate was similar in urban and rural areas. In the interviewed households, 9,695 children were found and Eligible Child Questionnaires were completed for all of these children. In addition, 90 independent children were identified and interviews were completed with 81 of them, producing a response rate of 90 percent.

Sampling error estimates

The estimates from a sample survey are affected by two types of errors: (1)

In 2019, there were over 121 thousand full-time postgraduate students in Nigeria. Male students were the majority. Federal universities had the highest number of master students, which counted roughly 62 thousand males and almost 40 thousand women.

In 2019, there were over 1.8 million full-time undergraduate university students in Nigeria. The majority of them attended federal universities, where 1.2 million students were enrolled. Private universities, instead, had around 103 thousand students.

In 2020, some ** percent of children in Nigeria completed the last grade of elementary school, with **** percent of males and **** percent of females. In the following educational levels, the disparity between male students and female students became larger, reaching a gap of **** and **** percentage points in the completion rates of middle school and high school, respectively.

In the academic year 2023/24, there were 331,602 international students from India studying in the United States. International students The majority of international students studying in the United States are originally from India and China, totaling 331,602 students and 277,398 students respectively in the 2023/24 school year. In 2022/23, there were 467,027 international graduate students , which accounted for over one third of the international students in the country. Typically, engineering and math & computer science programs were among the most common fields of study for these students. The United States is home to many world-renowned schools, most notably, the Ivy League Colleges which provide education that is sought after by both foreign and local students. International students and college Foreign students in the United States pay some of the highest fees in the United States, with an average of 24,914 U.S. dollars. American students attending a college in New England paid an average of 14,900 U.S. dollars for tuition alone and there were about 79,751 international students in Massachusetts . Among high-income families, U.S. students paid an average of 34,700 U.S. dollars for college, whereas the average for all U.S. families reached only 28,026 U.S. dollars. Typically, 40 percent of families paid for college tuition through parent income and savings, while 29 percent relied on grants and scholarships.

The completion rate for upper secondary school in Nigeria was higher among male students. In 2020, ** percent of males finished school, whereas this figure reached ** percent among female students. Between 2018 and 2020, the completion rate increased among both male and female upper secondary students.

Education in Nigeria is compulsory between the ages of *** and 15 years. The official entrance age to upper secondary education in Nigeria is 15 years and it has a duration of three years. Higher education (tertiary or post-secondary education) begins at the age of **.

In 2019, there were over 1.8 million full-time undergraduate university students in Nigeria. Sciences and social sciences counted the highest number of students. There were some considerable differences in the enrollment of female and male students. In the faculties of engineering and technology, and computing, male students represented the vast majority.

As of 2018, the gross enrollment rate in elementary schools in Nigeria stood at 68.3 percent. The North-Western states registered the highest figures, with 70.3 percent for males and 71.1 percent for females. In particular, the states of Katsina and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had the highest rates nationwide, whereas Rivers and Zamfara recorded the lowest figures. The gross enrollment rate measures the enrollment rates of scholars of any age, whereas the net enrollment rates refers only to students in the official age of that specific educational level.

The highest literacy rates in Nigeria were registered in the southern regions of the country. In the South West, 89 percent of males and 80.6 percent of females were literate as of 2018. Also, the south zones showed the lowest percentage differences between male and female literacy. Female literacy rate in Nigeria is among the highest in West Africa. The highest female literacy rates were registered in Cabo Verde and Ghana, while Nigeria ranked third.

In 2018, the state university in Nigeria with the highest percentage of female students was the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. Women in this university accounted for around ** percent of the total enrollment. Overall, the share of undergraduate female students in Nigerian state universities was ** percent.

In the academic year 2018/2019, there were *** million undergraduate students in Nigerian universities. About *** thousand were female students, which accounted for around ** percent of all students enrolled in undergraduate programs at Nigerian universities.

The gross enrollment ratio in upper secondary school in Nigeria dropped over the past years. In 2018, 38.7 percent of population in upper secondary education age was enrolled.

Education in Nigeria is compulsory between the ages of six and 15 years. The official entrance age to upper secondary education in Nigeria is 15 years and it has a duration of three years. Higher education (tertiary or post-secondary education) begins at the age of 18.