Nigeria’s education system is at its critical point both in evolution and sustainability. Bedeviled by the economic, social and cultural realities of openness, it needs to undergo a profound transformation to offer every Nigerian child the chance of quality life for self-fulfilment.
Out-of-school children is an emerging and disturbing phenomenon, gradually consuming the education domain and future of the child. While this educational endemic refers to the children in the official primary school age range who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary school, many factors such as inadequate-evidence-based policies, teacher and classroom shortages, poor infrastructure, cultural norms, health and safety concerns, conflicts and economic barriers, among others, are attributed to its blatant manifestation and escalation. Thus, proactive and decisive actions from all stakeholders to ameliorate the unhealthy trend are greatly paramount and desirable.
For the United Nations, out-of-school children are clearly defined as those kids who are yet to be enrolled in any formal education excluding pre-primary education. The age range for out-of-school children is 6-11 years. The number of out-of-school children is calculated by subtracting the aggregate of primary school age children enrolled in primary or secondary school from the total population of the official primary school-age children. This functional formula is a robust idea for policy making and implementation in respect of children enrollment.
Alarmingly, Nigeria’s out-of-school children are hitting 18.3 million, according to the UNICEF statistics.This frightening figure positions the country with the highest number globally. Instead of transition to the next level of education, these unfortunate children are transiting to the world of illiteracy characterised by absolute darkness. Of course, illiteracy is a chronic disease that requires prudent, quick and prompt response. Aggravated by the prolonged insurgency and banditry in the core North, children whose parents are devastated by the horrors of insecurity are economically down, socially dislocated that they are unable to send their children to school where security is not guaranteed and enhanced. The ugly incidences of abducted students across the northern states easily come to our mind.
UNICEF’s statistics concerning out-of-school children in Nigeria further reveal that only 41% of primary school students remain in school by the end of their junior secondary school. In May 2024, only 84% of Nigerian children moved to junior secondary school after completing their primary school. Appallingly, the top three states grappling with the highest percentages of out-of-school children in the country are Kebbi, which has a staggering figure of 67.6%, Sokoto having 66.4% and Yobe with 62.9% respectively.
While about N2 trillion was said to have been spent on refreshments, sitting allowances, travelling and utilities in the first nine months of 2024 by most governors, the transition to ubiquitous illiteracy associated with Nigeria’s children is rising and provoking as shown by the quoted statistics. For how long are we going to remain insensitive to the plight of our children? What do we see on the face of these innocent kids? The answer is simple: we are all guilty for not organising and uniting ourselves to secure the future of the Nigerian child.
Plundered are Nigeria’s abundant resources, entrenching misplaced priorities detrimental to the personal development of the child, whose fundamental right to quality education has been usurped. We have sad narratives of many places where school exist without teachers. Allowing the prevalence of out-of-school children is a dangerous signal of parting ways with the creation, preservation and promotion of human capital. Indeed, the best capital the child needs to prepare him or her for a successful living is education.
The prevalent crisis of out-of-school children is multidimensional, glaringly manifested in three levels vis-a-vis functional illiteracy, cultural illiteracy and moral illiteracy. Functional illiteracy means that a person cannot use reading, writing and calculation skills for his or her own and the community’s development. Cultural illiteracy refers to the inability to understand and participate fluently in a given culture. Moral illiteracy has to do with the disability to distinguish between what is wrong and what is right.
Getting mass children into school is a high priority for countries and crucial for achieving universal primary education. Any child that has access to education has broken the cycle of poverty in his or her family. Whereas the rate of out-of-school children increases, the human capital decreases in Nigeria. From the sociological perspective, out-of-school children menace leads to poverty, social stigma and ultimately criminal activities. From the economic angle, it cripples the economy as they are exposed to fewer job opportunities and lower salaries.
As part of frantic efforts to address the educational needs of OOSC, the Accelerated Education Programme (AEP) is a widely used education innovation and intervention scheme. It is carried out globally as functionally potential, bringing about a significant reduction in the number of OOSC in Nigeria. The goal of AEP is providing learners with equivalent, certified competences for basic education, deploying effective teaching and learning approaches that match their level of cognitive maturity.
A painstaking method of ending out-of-school children compels all stakeholders to vouch for the adoption, retention, transition and completion model to save the children and ensure the safety of their human capital. Of course, their capital is Nigeria’s capital. Who wants Nigeria’s capital to be squandered?
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