“All children, no matter where they live or what their circumstances, have the right to quality education.” – UNICEF.
International Day of Education is observed every year on January 24 to celebrate the role of education for peace and development. The theme for this year’s (2022) International Day of Educaton is: “Changing Course, Transforming Education.” According to ‘en.unesco.org,’ this year’s International Day of Education is a platform to showcase the most important transformations that have to be nurtured to realize everyone’s fundamental right to education and build a more sustainable, inclusive and peaceful futures. It will generate debate around how to strengthen education as a public endeavour and common good, how to steer the digital transformation, support teachers, safeguard the planet and unlock the potential in every person to contribute to collective well-being and our shared home.
Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility. Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, it will be difficult to break the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.
Nigeria is a ‘country of the young,’ with around 43 per cent (almost half the entire population) currently under the age of 15. Nevertheless, a survey conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicates that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world (about 10.5 million), even though Primary education is officially free and compulsory.
This constitutes a serious problem for the country. Knowing the futureimpact of having a population largely filled with uneducated children,this menace will (if not properly curtailed), reduce the world’slargest Black nation to a hub of vulnerable children with no access toquality education.
A good education prepares children to cope successfully with life intoday’s society. It equips them with academic skills, including theability to read and write well and to do arithmetic. Moreover, itaffects their interaction with others and helps them build upwholesome standards of morality. Also, as human society becomes evenmore complex, a good education takes on greater importance.
Many people feel that the main purpose of education is to earn money.Yet, some educated people are unemployed or do not earn enough to meet basic needs. Some parents may therefore think that it is notbeneficial to send a child to school. But schooling does more thanprepare someone to make money. It equips children for life in general.
However, even for children who attend school, there still exist someproblems that can hinder the child from receiving proper education.These problems include: overcrowded classrooms which make learningdifficult, absence of suitable learning facilities due to poorfunding, a poorly remunerated and therefore unhappy teaching staff,and so on. Therefore, it is important that parents take an activeinterest in what their children are learning at school. They shouldget acquainted with the teachers, especially at the beginning of eachterm. They could ask for the teacher’s advice on how the children canbecome better students. The teachers may thus feel appreciated and bemotivated to make a greater effort to meet the educational needs ofthe children.
Regarding the problem of high number of out-of-school children inNigeria, it is important to first of all consider and address thefactors that contribute toward their high number. Such contributoryfactors include the acts of terrorism especially in the North-Easternpart of the country, where the highest number of out-of-schoolchildren are found. As a result of acts of terrorism in that area,many schools have been destroyed, thousands of teachers have beenkilled, and insurgency and acts of terror have dampened the enthusiasmof children to go to school, and embedded in parents the fear ofsending their wards to school.
Furthermore, economic barriers, as well as socio-cultural norms andpractices have contributed to discouraging attendance in formaleducation, especially for the girl child. Poverty, early marriage,cultural and religious misconceptions or misrepresentations, andteenage pregnancy also act as barriers to girl child education,especially in the North.
Parents sometimes send their sons to school but not their daughters.Perhaps some parents think that it is too expensive to educate theirdaughters and believe that girls can be more useful to their mother bystaying at home all day. But illiteracy will handicap a daughter. AUNICEF publication stated: “Study after study has demonstrated thatproviding education for girls is one of the best strategies forbreaking the hold of poverty.” Educated girls are better equipped forlife and make wiser decisions, thus benefiting all in the family.
In some places children are deprived of formal education, and thenhanded over to someone to learn a trade. Sometimes these children areexploited. Learning a trade is a good thing, but they would be morelikely to avoid exploitation if they first received a basic educationand then learned a trade.
Other factors that contribute toward the problem of out-of-schoolchildren include poor implementation of government policies oneducation, corruption, unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks,inadequate funding for the education sector, poor provision ofeducational infrastructure at the basic education level, among others.If these problems, along with the problem of terrorism in the North,the economic barriers, etc, are addressed, then we may begin to see adrastic reduction in the high number of out-of-school children inNigeria.
Apart from efforts by the government, other sectors of the societysuch as the private sector, media, and community, can also help toreduce the number of out-of-school children in the country. This theycan do by providing aids and grants, building new classroom blocks inpublic schools, donating educational infrastructure such as schoolfurniture, textbooks, libraries, etc. Some private organizations couldeven identify some less-privileged out-of-school children, verifythem, and sponsor their education.
Children are one of the greatest assets that we can ever invest in forour future. So, let us all put hands together to address the menace ofout-of-school children, and help children gain access to qualityeducation.
Ighakpe (Mr.), a Computer Studies/ICT teacher, Tendertouch Primary School, FESTAC Town, Lagos, writes via [email protected]; 0817 479 5742.
