As Nigeria continues to see an increase in the number of out-of-school children, stakeholders have advocated urgent action be taken to promote inclusiveness in the Nigerian education system.
Speaking at a panel discussion with the theme: ‘Eradicating learning deprivation’, stakeholders frowned at the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria which according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was about 20 million as of October 2022, up from 10.5 million recorded by the United Nations Children’s Fund in 2020.
The Maryam Uwais, senior special adviser to the president on social investment, said that every child who is out of school today is a challenge that must be addressed in order to create a better society. According to Uwais, poverty has been identified as a major factor keeping children out of school adding most parents engage their children in trade to support the household income.
“Every child out of school today is a challenge that we must address, we need to open the minds of these children to the opportunities that exist and they need the support of the government,” she said. “Poverty is a major factor that drives children to do labor to support the household income, and you cannot blame them because at the end of the day, we are all a product of decisions that our parent made.”
Read also: SME participation in financial market seen as tool to drive prosperity
Speaking further, Uwais said that it is not possible to ban the Almajiri setting, adding that the government can only work to create a better learning environment for the children as well create support for the parents.
Cristian Munduate, Country representative of UNICEF said, “In Nigeria we work closely with the government, because they are the institutions that can make change in a country, no institution will provide what the government is expected to provide.
“We provide or help to get data for necessary decision. We also are working on geographic area on access to safe school, inclusive learning environments.
“We are working with government to increase social intervention programs, as well as support families to send their children to school as we discovered that education is not a priority for some parent because of poverty.”
Speaking further, Munduate said that UNICEF has continued to supporting quality of learning globally while seeking ways to strengthen support to West Africa in terms of budget allocation for schools.
Hamid Bobboyi, executive secretary, Universal Basic Education Council (UBEC), stated that issues of qualified teachers, poor funding and nature of recruiting teachers have been major constraints to the Nigerian education system.
According to him, some state governments were yet to access the UBEC fund set aside to support basic education across the country adding that Ubec was working to ensure the establishment of smart schools in each local government across the country.
“We are currently moving from one local government to the other to understand the issues and how to support,” he said. “What we are saying now is that we want education to be politicised, let’s tell people if you do not take care of education system you will not he elected.”
