More boys than girls now out of school – survey
By Aloys Michael, May 16, 2026More boys in the country are now either dropping out of school or failing to join classrooms altogether, according to a new report that indicates a shifting gender pattern in education access despite years of investment in expanding enrolment.
The 2025 Gender Report on Education by the Usawa Agenda shows that boys now account for a larger share of children missing out on education nationally, even though they still benefit from relatively better access to school resources and progression opportunities later in the education system.
“5.1 per cent of boys are out of school compared to 4.3 per cent of girls. It adds that. This means that for every 100 boys of school-going age, about five are not in school, compared to four girls in every 100,” the report reads.
However, the pattern shifts in refugee settings, where girls are more affected.
“In refugee camps, the statistics are different in favour of boys as they record 18.5 per cent out of school and 21.8 per cent for girls,” the report notes.
It further explains that in refugee camps, however, girls remain the most disadvantaged, with nearly 22 out of every 100 girls out of school compared to 19 boys.
The findings are based on national household and school data collected over recent years, tracking trends from the post-COVID-19 period up to 2025.
Researchers examined enrolment, literacy, learning outcomes, teenage pregnancy, teacher distribution and leadership representation across different levels of education, including refugee populations.
Although overall exclusion from school has dropped to 4.7 per cent nationally, the report warns that inequalities persist along gender, regional and socio-economic lines.
It notes that while girls are now slightly ahead in primary school enrolment and tend to perform better in literacy and numeracy assessments, boys are increasingly being pushed out of school due to economic pressures.
The survey observes that the trend is especially visible in regions where informal work is widespread.
The report further links school exclusion to poverty and parental education levels, finding that children in households headed by individuals without formal schooling face significantly higher risks of dropping out.
It notes that a child raised by a guardian with no formal education is nearly ten times more likely to be out of school than one raised by a university graduate.
While national figures show improvement in access to education, refugee populations continue to face severe barriers, with out-of-school rates rising sharply compared to the national average.