Challenges of Policy Coordination in Addressing Out-of-School Children in Niger State, North Central Nigeria

This study examines the challenges of inter-agency policy coordination in addressing the out-of-school children crisis in Niger State, North Central Nigeria. Nigeria has one of the highest populations of out-of-school children globally, and Niger State faces particular challenges due to its large geographical area, sparse rural population, and inadequate school infrastructure. Drawing on institutional coordination theory and recent education policy literature from 2020 to 2024, the study adopts a descriptive survey design. A total of 235 respondents including education officials, local government education supervisors, school heads, community leaders, and parents are drawn from five local government areas using purposive stratified sampling. Data are gathered through structured questionnaires and focused interviews, and analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The study expects to find that fragmented responsibilities between the State Universal Basic Education Board, the Ministry of Education, local government education authorities, and non-governmental education partners, combined with inadequate data systems, create coordination gaps that allow large numbers of children to fall through institutional cracks. Supply-side barriers including insufficient classrooms, teacher shortages, and distance to school, as well as demand-side barriers including child labour and early marriage, are also examined. Recommendations will address developing a unified data management platform, strengthening local coordination committees, and scaling up targeted scholarships and school feeding programmes. Keywords: out-of-school children, policy coordination, basic education, Niger State, access to education