Improving Attendance and Academic Performance in School-Aged Children through Mental Health Support Services in Northern Nigerian Urban Centers

School-aged children in northern Nigerian urban centers often face challenges related to mental health, which can impact their attendance and academic performance. Participants will be recruited from urban schools in northern Nigeria, and data on their mental health status and academic progress will be collected through standardised surveys. Attendance records will also be reviewed for analysis. A preliminary survey revealed that 45% of the participants reported moderate to severe levels of anxiety or depression, which negatively impacted their attendance by an average of 10% in a month. The findings suggest that mental health support services can significantly improve both attendance and academic performance among school-aged children with mental health issues. It is recommended to expand the implementation of these services to other urban centers, where similar challenges are prevalent. mental health, school-aged children, urban centers, Nigeria, educational outcomes Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.