14th April, 2014
By Bilikis Bakare
In the midst of current obscene display of opulence and grandeur in which some Nigerians own private jets as well as exotic cars worth several millions of naira, it is rather sad that over 10. 5 million Nigerian children are out of school! The Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, recently disclosed that out of the aforementioned figure, nine million come from the Northern part of the country. Ironically, some officials from same region were indicted for stealing funds released for the Nomadic Education Commission, an agency charged with the responsibility of getting Fulani herdsmen to enrol their children in school.
According to a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO ) report, one out of every five Nigerian children is out of school, topping the table of 12 other countries with which it accounts for 47% of the global out-of–school population. The other countries are Pakistan, Ethiopia, India, Philippines. Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. Others include Niger, Kenya, Yemen, Mali and South Africa.
Out-of–school children are excluded from the school system due to a number of reasons. Growth in population over the last few years, with children under the age of 15 accounting for about 45% of the country’s population, led to the increase in number of school age children which has invariably left an overwhelming burden on the fragile educational system.
The ratio of schools available to this growing population of children becomes inadequate, coupled with dearth of qualified teachers, particularly in urban areas where there is large concentration of these eligible children. And where these schools are available, the distance to the nearest one can also constitute a hindrance, especially in the rural centres.
Poverty can also affect the number of children enrolled in schools because most of these children contribute to the economic well-being of their families through hawking and sundry work to generate additional income. Apart from the free education policy of the government, some families cannot afford the cost of textbooks and uniforms for their children. Therefore, even when they were enrolled, some of them drop out before completing the primary cycle, while 54% transit to junior secondary school.
The situation is a bit more complicated in the northern part of the country. The ratio of enrolment of girl child to their male counterpart particularly in the north is low. The region has the lowest school attendance rate, particularly for girls. The girls attend Quranic schools and they are made to get married early at a time when their counterparts in other regions are still in school.
Children with disabilities and disease conditions like epilepsy, cerebral palsy and autism, among others, are kept at home by their parents and care givers due to the stigma attached to their medical conditions, thereby adding to the large number of out-of- school children. Same goes for children of terminally ill parents or those orphaned by religious or tribal wars and HIV/AIDS. Parents who are internally displaced due to unrest or non-payment of rents can equally have their children out of school, while migration from one state to the other can also cause a child to be out of school.
In order to address this nagging problem, the compulsory free Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act was passed into law in 2004 and it represents the Federal Government’s strategy to fight illiteracy and extend basic education opportunities to all children in the country. This will go a long way to reduce adult illiteracy in Nigeria, whose figure has risen to 35 million.
In spite of the introduction of the free Universal Basic Education, the level of investment in basic education in the country is still relatively low as compared to what obtains in other sub Saharan African countries. This is in spite of political commitment to trying to reverse years of neglect in the education sector by increasing federal funding.
It is, therefore, important that governments at all levels demonstrate new resolve to making the policies on education practicable by frequent monitoring and evaluation of their workability. Child friendly school concept, a brainchild of the United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF), in which basic necessities like water, good and functioning toilets and electricity are provided, should be adopted by all states in the country. This will serve as motivating factors to bring the children back to school.
Family support programmes in form of scholarships and bursaries should be introduced by government at all levels and philanthropists in the communities to support government efforts. Children of terminally ill parents or those orphaned by HIV/ AIDS and children of disabled parents can benefit from such programmes and kind gestures. Also, adequate facilities and policies to increase the level of girl child education should be put in place. This will serve as an essential catalyst for greater women empowerment not only in the country but in the continent as a whole.
Although some state governments are making efforts to attract children to stay off the streets, a lot still has to be done to achieve total success of these programmes. For instance, in Kano State, the state Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in a bid to address the issue of educational backwardness of the state, declared free and compulsory education at all levels in the state, commencing from 2014 academic year.
In the same vein, the newly sworn in Governor of Anambra State ,Chief Willie Obiano has announced that his administration would focus on three priority areas in the implementation of the state’s educational policy viz; infrastructure, pupils and students. This he proposed to achieve by building and equipping more schools, provide medical facilities to cater for the well being of the children and recreational and sport facilities.
In Lagos State, education is free from primary school level up to the senior secondary level with the provision of free text books. In order to attract private sector participation in the education sector, the state government introduced the “Adopt a School” initiative, in which public spirited individuals, religious organisations and corporate bodies could adopt a choice school for development. Also, in partnership with the World Bank, the Lagos State Government introduced the “Eko Secondary School (EKO) Project”, a programme aimed at renovating dilapidated secondary schools across the state and providing modern furniture and infrastructure to make the students learn comfortably.
In the words of the late South African President, Nelson Mandela, education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world. For this to become a reality in our clime, relevant stakeholders should come together to put in place conscientious strategies that would improve the state of education in the country.
•Bakare wrote from Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.