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Similar trend is observable in the 2010 NEDS data across the zones in numeracy among children
age 5–16. Their performances varied across the states and zones. The northwest and northeast
zones had the lowest numeracy rates and 13 out of the 19 northern zones had literacy rates
lower than 50%. In Sokoto, Bauchi, Borno, and Yobe states numeracy rates stood between 14%
and 20%. The lowest numeracy rate in the south was 67% (Ebnyi state). Abia, Ondo, Osun, and
Lagos had between 92% and 94% numeracy rates among children age 5–16 (NPC & RTI, 2011).
Nationwide independent evaluation is scarce for a comparison the government data, however,
an Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Assessments (EGRMA) in Bauchi and Sokoto States by
USAID project in 2013 shows that overall, pupils’ performance was very poor across school
types and states. Over half of the pupils scored zero and only a few were able to read and
understand sentences in either Hausa or English. According to the report, more than 90% of
pupils in P2, approximately 80% in P3, more than 70% in Stage 1, and more than 50% of Stage
2 pupils scored zero. For English oral reading fluency, between 80% and 90% of P3 and Stage 2
pupils scored zero in both states. Given the high percentage of pupils who could not read a single
word of the oral reading passage, comprehension scores were very low, even in Hausa USAID
(2013).
Figure 3.4.9 presents data, by region and gender, on the percentage of pupils who could not
correctly answer any of the reading questions. Figure 3.4.10 presents raw probabilities of zero
scores in five Hausa sub-tasks. Since the sample comprises of government and Islamic schools,
we additionally present the figures by school types. To put student performance in context, a
useful benchmarking reference is the mean ORF for all learners comprehending 80% (correctly
answering 4 out of 5 questions) which is approximately equal to 50 correct words per minute
(CWPM).
The assessment shows that most pupils were yet to master relevant foundational skills in
reading and mathematics and there were no substantial differences between boys’ and girls’
performances in both reading and mathematics. There was a very slight reading difference
between primary 2 and primary 3 pupils’ performances suggesting the low outcome of the
additional year of learning on pupils' reading skills. Some of the contributing factors for the low
performances included the absence of appropriate teaching and learning materials, inadequate
teacher training, high levels of absenteeism among students and teachers and, inadequate
learning support for the pupils (USAID, 2013).
Similar assessment in Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano and Katsina states as part of the processes for the
Global Partnership for Education (GPE)-funded Nigeria Partnership for Education Project
(NIPEP) shows that scores were exceedingly low in both government and IQTE schools and,
government schools’ record was strikingly poor; pupils in IQTE centres in all the states
outperformed those in government schools by a wide margin (Ogbonna, 2016). Information
from the pupil learning and teacher effectiveness in Jigawa, Katsina and Zamfara state primary
schools show that 88% of the teachers reported that their schools needed major repairs and up
to 11% of the schools had no electricity. In these schools, only 3% of primary 2 and three pupils
demonstrated a relevant level of proficiency in English, 6% in numeracy and 15% in scientific
literacy (EDOREN, 2016). Similar records of low literacy were recorded in the MLA components
of ESSPIN Composite surveys (2014 and 2016) and the pilot survey by LEARNigeria (2016). The
ESSPIN survey suggest that pupils performances may have worsened while LEARNigeria pilot
study indicates that, of children aged 5 to 15 years surveyed in two local governments in Kano
and Lagos, only 10% of them in Kano State could read grade two level story level only 6.7% of