The Universal Basic Education (UBE’s) lofty objectives seem defeated by the increasing number of out-of-school children in the country despite international partnership on the programme, Uji Abdullahi Iliyasu reports.
Background
In 1999, the federal government introduced the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme, an offshoot of the Universal Primary Education programme, which was had been launched by General Olusegun Obasanjo as military head of state. UBE aims to provide free primary and secondary education for all school age children. The UBE was established after several unsuccessful attempts at improving education in the country.
Although there have been some pockets of impacts of UBE, its results have been limited and Nigeria’s educational system still rates very poorly in most international rankings. This is not unconnected with the widespread corruption in the polity.
Before 1977, Nigeria operated an educational policy passed down to her by Britain at independence. The inability of this policy to satisfy the national aspirations of the country called for alternatives to the colonial heritage,
In the 1970s, the foundation was laid for a new policy. Thus in 1976, the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme was launched, but it was widely considered to be unsuccessful, even though it helped to produce a generation of Nigerians who would otherwise be out of school and become illiterate.
School enrolment was low in the 1990s, gross enrolment ratio in primary school which was at 86 per cent dropped to 25 per cent by the time children reached secondary school. This is the reason the basic education extends to the junior secondary level.
UBE programme was launched in 1999, with the goal of providing “free, universal and compulsory basic education for every Nigerian child aged 6-15 years”.
But due to lack of legal backing after launch, the programme, was not able to take off immediately. Therefore, initial UBE-related activities were carried out only in areas of social mobilisation, infrastructural development, provision of instructional materials and the like. The UBE programme only took off effectively with the signing of the UBE Act in April 2004.
UBE’s nominal impact
There has been some improvement in education sector since the programme was launched, but the impact has been marginal considering its span of almost two decades.
In 2015, Nigeria ranked 103th out of 118 countries in UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) development index, which takes into account universal primary education, adult literacy, quality education, and gender parity.
UNESCO’s 2015 review of education in Nigeria found that enrolment at primary and junior secondary levels had greatly increased since 2000. However, transition and completion rates remained below 70 per cent
In its latest review of Nigeria’s educational standing in 2015, UNESCO has concluded that much more remains to be done, both in quantity and quality. Participation in primary education is still low in comparison with primary school .age population;
The quality of the national school curriculum is undermined by the generally low quality of teachers who implement it, which translates into low levels of learning achievement; Infrastructure, toilets and furniture are inadequate and in a dilapidated state; the system of collecting comprehensive, relevant data for planning is weak; there are social and cultural barriers that are hindering female participation; there is a lack of enforcement of the UBE Act 2004 on enrolment and retention.
Embarrassing out-of-school children rate
The number of out-of-school children in Nigeria increased from 10.5 million to 13.2 million between 2010 and 2015.
Chief Education Specialist of UNICEF Terry Durnnian said the world could help Nigeria address the problem of out-of-school children if she plays her role in addressing the scourge of Boko Haram insurgency.
“We are ready to make commitment for actions the process has begun by UNICEF to lead and support the process of reducing the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria,” he said.
Collaborations with foreign Partners
The Universal Basic Education Commission is mandated by its establishment Act to facilitate and ensure smooth collaboration with International Development Partners (IDPs) and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to boost basic education delivery in Nigeria. In keeping with this mandate, UBEC has attracted financial and technical supports from IDPs, recent among which is Korea.
Korea as partners
Korean government has pledged increased collaboration and partnership with the Nigerian government towards improved UBE service delivery.
This was the high point of the parley between Nigerian and Korean officials when the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi paid a courtesy call on the Korean ambassador, His Excellency Major General Lee In-tae (rtd) on Friday, February 8, 2019 at the Korean Embassy in Abuja. The courtesy call also afforded the UBEC boss the opportunity to bid farewell to Sook Hyun Park, the outgoing Country Director, who had been the major Korean official responsible for partnerships with UBEC and other Nigerian education agencies.
As part of the interactions during the visit, the officials deliberated on current interventions involving both governments in basic education delivery. The meeting emphasised the need to finalise arrangements to install instructional materials already procured for the Nigeria-Korea Model School in Abuja.
The UBEC boss expressed gratitude to the Korean government for its pioneering initiative in establishing the Korea-Nigeria UBE Model School located at the Airport Road, Abuja. He informed the Korean officials of efforts being made by the government to replicate the Korea initiative in the six geopolitical zones with the setting up of UBE Model Schools in each geo-political zone and the FCT.
Dr. Bobboyi stated that the ultimate goal of setting up the UBE Model Schools is to ensure that each state, in the long run, can boast of a standard, world-class UBE facility.
The Korean diplomat promised to ensure that the Korea-Nigeria Model School is well maintained and pledged further assistance to the Nigerian government/UBEC in teacher training. He expressed optimism that he will explore other possible areas that are open to partnership with the Nigerian people.
Officials at the parley pledged renewed commitment to a more robust Korea-Nigeria friendship. The UBEC executive secretary was accompanied on the visit by the Director, Physical Planning Engr. Sadiq Saad, Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary, Baba Sali Song and other UBEC personnel in charge of Partnerships and Communication.
