Worried by the staggering figure of 20million out of school children in Nigeria, the Senate Wednesday called for the establishment of mobile courts for enforcement of compulsion in the Universal Basic Education Act.
President of the Red Chamber, Godswill Akpabio, specifically urged the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) , to adopt measures used in Akwa Ibom state when he was governor which entailed six months imprisonment for parents or guardian of school aged children found on the streets or in the farm, during school hours.
Senate ‘s move for stringent action against parents or guardians of out of school children in Nigeria followed a motion sponsored by Senator Idiat Oluranti Adebule (APC Lagos West) on 20 million out of school children in Nigeria.
Adebule in the motion said it has become worrisome, going by 2022 report of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that about 20 million Nigerian children are out of school which represents 10 percent of the estimated Nigerian population of 200 million people and also represents the highest number of out of school children from any country globally.
“Though the Federal Ministry of Education has disputed the figure, it is generally agreed that whatever the real figures, the issue of out-of-school children has become an albatross on the neck of the Nigerian state that must be dealt with as a matter of urgency,” she stated.
In his contribution to the motion, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC Edo North), said the menace must be tackled very urgently because illiteracy engenders poverty and poverty engenders crime.
“I really don’t think we need any tutorial to remind us that he or she who didn’t have the opportunity or was denied the opportunity to go to school, is destined to be poor forever.
“An illiterate young man or woman is bound to give birth to another illiterate child which will lead to a dynasty of the poor constituting a risk to the rich and the society at large.
“Today in Nigeria, we can see and we are all witnesses that inequality and abject poverty anywhere has constituted a huge security risk to everyone in Nigeria. It is clear that every Nigerian children needs to go to school”, he said.
