Nigeria: Classroom shortages threaten primary education targets

The success of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme which aims to provide free education to every child in Nigeria caused the number of primary school leavers to more than double in 2007, creating a backlog that the secondary education system is struggling to cope with. Over 49,000 children in the northern Nigeria city of Kano who completed primary school in 2006 and wish to attend secondary school may not be admitted due to a severe shortage of trained teachers and classrooms.