Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children in the world-Facts behind the figures

MILLION CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL : Facts behind the figures

The report that Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children in the world, has once again buttressed the need for the Federal Government to address the issue as a national emergency, so as to reverse the dangerous slide to illiteracy.

 CHARLES KUMOLU & LAJU ARENYEKA

Terseer adamu (Review)

IF the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, were to be asked what national problem is the least likely to be addressed in the next five years, the agency would perhaps point at the near absence of the a vibrant, progressive and qualitative educational system in Nigeria.

This is because the United Nations agency believes that the nation accounted for almost a fifth of the world’s out-of-school children. This startling revelation, was made known by  Kate Redman, Communications Specialist, Education for All Global Monitoring Report, EAGMR, of UNESCO.

According to her, the amount of aid to basic education Nigeria received in 2011 was 28 per cent lower than it received in 2010. She said new statistics showed that 57 million children were out of school globally in 2011, which was a drop from two million in 2010.

Redman further said that assistance to basic education had decreased for the first time since 2002, adding that the world must move beyond helping children enter school to  ensuring that they learn the basics. While this did not come as a surprise, following the undisputed consensus on the level of decadence in the sector, many are worried that a nation with an  unbroken history of educational reforms, could be ranked as having the highest out-of-school children globally.

For instance, findings by VaguardFeatures,VF, showed that educational reforms predated the nation’s independence, as the then colonial government of Sir John  Macpherson, initiated  reforms in 1954.

A national crisis
Buttressing this, a report by an educationalist at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Gusau, Dr. Bello Gusau, titled: Educational Reforms in Nigeria: Successive Years of Inconsistences and Confusions said: “Nigeria has witnessed several educational reforms which started at pre-independence.  It was to the credit of Nigerians notably agitators for self- rule that led the British colonial rulers to change the educational system in operation in 1954 from 8-6-2-3 system that is eight year primary, six year secondary, two year higher school certificate and three year university to a new system 6-5-2-3 that is six year primary, five year secondary, two year higher school certificate and three year university.”

Notwithstanding this history, it is the believe of many that the UNESCO report has succeeded in bringing to global attention the need to regard the issue as a national crisis.

Though the statistics does not appear  generally acceptable, the Federal Government has said that it would not challenge the data. “We will not challenge such statistics. What is most important to us is to address the main issue and that is let every Nigerian child be in school, that is our target,” Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa’i said when she received a UNESCO  delegation  in Abuja.

She said the ministry plans to reduce the number of out-of-school children significantly between now and 2014 as Nigeria has the highest number of such children in the world.  The FG’s position notwithstanding, the matter has continued to dominate contemporary discourse among stakeholders, who are saddened by the comatse state of the sector, particularly basic education.

The National Coordinator, Education Rights Campaign, ERC, Mr. Hassan Soweto described the statistics as an understatement, adding that the number is much more than data presented by UNESCO. Accordingly, he told VF that, “10.5 million is an understatement. We at the ERC believe that the number is much more than that. This is a country that is not even sure of its total population. Even states that claim to give free education don’t do so in a natural sense. There are a lot of fees that students still have to pay.

“In Lagos State for example, teachers keep two registers for one class, so that it won’t be too obvious that there are more than 40 people in each class. The first threat to education is the fact that most parents are so poor that they need their children to do menial jobs just to keep body and soul together. In the former South west region, we were able to win the war against illiteracy 50 years ago. It is such a shame that in this time and age, we are struggling with an issue as important as basic education. The constant privatization of education over the past few years has made it difficult for a lot of parents to sponsor their children through school.”

But a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University Kano, Prof. Munzali Jibril said the nation does not need to agree with the figures to know that the issue has assumed alarming dimension. “The out of school kids issue is a well known one, whether we agree with the figures given by UNESCSO or not, you only have to walk round the streets of Northern Nigeria to find hundreds of Almajiris begging, and the girls hawking. enrollment statistics are appalling, there are some states who are small in total population, but have large number of out of school kids,” he noted.

Resistance to western education
Continuing, Jibril said: “Historically, there has been resistance to western education in the north, especially in rural areas, so that could be one of the reasons for this predicament. Another reason could be the high rate of unemployment in the country. I find it quite ironic that the figures have been rising since 1999 when we entered the democratic era, because I think that these politicians are doing better for education than the military.”

However, the Director of Whitefield High School, Mr. Luke Onyeanula, who operates a thriving private school in Lagos,  questioned the statistics, adding the advent of private schools has been a boost to the education sector.

Private schools bridging the gap:  “I don’t agree with the statistics because if you go to the various communities, you will find schools beings established and the fees are being brought down so that people can afford it. With that the level of illiteracy is being reduced. We have tried the much we can to ensure that students are not scared away by school fees. So, how does the report reflect the reality in the education sector, when the private sector is establishing schools in every nook and cranny of the country. The government needs to give proper attention to basic education in order not to give room for this type of report. Individuals , should be encouraged to establish schools in order to provide affordable education, “ he added

Onyeanula is not alone in this regard, another educationist and a retired Principal of Federal Government College, Gwandu, Dr. Sylvanus Okoto, is angry that the FG calmly accepted the statistics, with an ‘unrealistic’ pledge to tackle the issue.

“We should not accept everything that emanates from these agencies. Though I am not too concern about that I am worried that the government has once again made bogus promise of addressing the issue, when it is obvious that the state of the sector today is because of government’s insincerity. All over the world, the ability to allocate sufficient resources for a programme remains the greatest challenge that a programme can have. This is also the case with the funding of basic education in Nigeria. When the system is not properly funded to encourage mass enrollment, what do you expect in a country where a greater percentage live on less than one dollar a day?” he said

This however, implies that there is a nexus between proper funding and the increasing number of out-of-school children in the country,’’ he noted.

Strengthening this, a 2009 by report S.O. Labo-Popoola, A.A. Bello and F.A. Atanda, titled:  Universal Basic Education in Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward, said: “It is evident that the Federal Government has not spent up to 15% of its total budget on education in the last 10 years of uninterrupted democracy. The highest allocation so far was in 2008, when it allocated 13%. This pattern of allocation, as mentioned-above, which is below the UNESCO’s threshold that is 26% of the total budget is certainly affecting the implementation of government’s policy on education and in particular the Universal Basic Education since its inception.”

Issue as national emergency: Nonetheless, further checks showed that across the nation, stakeholders want the government to address the issue as a national emergency.

‘’On solutions, Jibril said: “UBE already requires compulsory education for primary school children. It is not enough to simply pass these acts, such acts must be fully implemented. State governments especially should continue to expand facilities to accommodate students. Even though the public sector has no excuse not to provide quality education, the private sector also has a role to play too. Private schools do this in two ways: they contribute financially with the tax to the education trust fund, as well as provision of alternative facilities for children of the elite to pay their fees, thereby creating better opportunities for others in the public schools,” Jibril told VF.

Soweto also shared same view on the way forward. He said: “The only solution is for the government to see basic education as a priority, as an indispensable tool for economic and social development. What really is the purpose of government?

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com