North-East has the lowest access to basic education among the six geopolitical zones in the country, while the South-East has the highest access, according to the report submitted by the technical committee of the National Personnel Audit (2018) of basic schools undertaken by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Monday in Abuja during the launch and presentation of the National Personnel Audit (2018) report.
Among the 36 states of the federation, Zamfara, Yobe, Sokoto Rivers, Kogi and Borno have the lowest access to basic education, the report reveals.
Furthermore, on the area of gender enrolment on Early Childhood Care and Development Education (ECCDE), the North-West has the highest enrolment of both boys and girls while the South-South and South-West zones have higher female enrolment than male. However, the North-East tops the zones with the highest male enrolment.
On teachers’ qualification, among the states, Ekiti state tops the five states with highest the qualified teachers, followed by Benue, Oyo, Edo and Osun states.
Similarly, on zonal basis, the chances that a child enrol in public or private ECCDE was highest in the South-East zone with a net intake rate of 48.6 and lowest in the North-East zone with a net intake rate of 13.1.
The report says the opportunities to enrol in ECCDE centres whether public or private, are generally higher in southern zones than in the northern zones.
On the number of drop-outs in public schools, the report reveals that more girls drop out of public schools than boys, but more boys drop out of private schools than girls.
The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboyi, during the launch and presentation of the personnel audit report, which was attended by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, chairmen of education committees in the National Assembly and other stakeholders, said the launching of the nationwide personnel audit (2018) report was an honour and humility for him and UBEC because the audit was a great strategic assignment which accomplishment was made possible by God and stakeholders who had worked tirelessly towards its success.
He thanked President Muhamadu Buhari for his support to basic education in the country.
“We really appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for prioritising basic education and education generally.
“We also appreciate FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello, who is as a pillar of education,” Bobboyi said.
Dr Bobboyi said for the report to come to fruition, the team had traversed the six geographical areas to understudy their basic schools and appreciate their challenges and prospects.
“We want all children in Nigeria to go to school and receive basic education. So, we thank all stakeholders who made it possible to write this compressive audit report which will serve as data base for development planning and research.
“This is the first time personnel audit of basic schools covered both public and private education sector.
“Despite initial suspicion by private sector, private schools later embraced the programme.”
Bobboyi said the tenure of Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, had taken basic education in the country to greater heights.
Malam Adamu Adamu in his speech, described the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, as a matron of out-of-school children and female children in Nigeria.
“I didn’t know that the National Personnel Audit of basic schools Dr Bobboyi asked to undertake was going to be as comprehensive as what he has presented today.
“Before now, we used to run to UNICEF for information on our schools but today they will come to our table for similar information,” Adamu said.
The minister said the Federal Ministry of Education would study the report and come out with comprehensive policies on basic education in the country.
The 2018 National Personnel Audit (NPA) was implemented by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Education and its relevant parastatals, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), National Population Commission (NPC), International Development Partners (IDPs), National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and other relevant stakeholders in the states.