The Deputy Director, Special Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Joyce Eke, said on Saturday that globally there were 58 million children of primary school age who were not enrolled in school.

Eke said in Gusau at a two-day National meeting on the revision of the Girls Education Project (GEP-3) Enrollment Drive Guidelines that globally 100 million children do not complete primary education.

The meeting was organised jointly by UNICEF, the Federal Ministry of Education and the five GEP-3 states of Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger, Katsina and Niger.

She said that Nigeria was responsible for 10.5 million out of the 58 were, a figure, she said was the highest in the world.

``GEP-3 aims at contributing to the improvement of social and economic opportunity for girls, especially in the northern states.

'' To achieve this, enrollment drive has been recognised as a key intervention for increasing education demands,'' she said.

According to Eke, the Enrollment Drive Campaign conducted in 2014 in the five GEP-3 states was aimed at increasing parental demand for education, especially for girls.

She said it was also meant to change negative behaviour at individual , household and community levels on the value of education.

The acting Chairman of Zamfara State Primary Education Board, Alhaji Sidi Bakura, commended the Federal Government and UNICEF for partnering with the five states to boost enrollment of children in schools. (NAN)

*Photo shows Primary school pupils