What Hope for Education in Nigeria: Focus on Out-of-School Children.

There is a growing concern over the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria and its implications for the development of the child.

A recent report published by UNESCO estimates the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria to be 20 million thereby eliciting a debate among stakeholders who are querying the government’s conflicting reports about the number and the interventions put in place to immediately increase the number of school enrolment and return to school by already enrolled learners.

Who else is imagining what the future would look like if we continue to have this number of children stay at home, roam the streets or engage in menial jobs when they should be in school?

I've often expressed concerns in the past over the dwindling acceptance of education by our young people, especially with the recent notion that education is a scam following an online campaign calling for people to disregard the initial information about education being the key to attaining success. Part of the message contained in that campaign is that education is a waste of time and shouldn't be taken seriously anymore.

As expected, many young people took it seriously and left school.

I've also seen videos on the internet where children tell their parents that they don't want to go to school. In one of such videos, a child could be seen saying that he wants to be a fraudster when he grows up. Though in the video they joked about it, I found the video distasteful and thought the matter should be a serious one and the child corrected and counselled.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/90940c_f894e988beef40a185eb48f7befcc449/720p/mp4/file.mp4

video credit: gossipmilltv

If we’ve joked about everything in the past, we mustn’t trivialize this recent report irrespective of whether we agree with the figure or not. The fact is that even without the report, in our immediate environments, we can see that there are many children that are not in school anymore for different reasons. Someone asked “I thought the Nigerian government said that the numbers were going down following the interventions through the daily school feeding programme aimed at encouraging school enrolment? Well, the UNESCO report is an indication that things are not going as planned and if it continues this way, how do we expect to achieve goal 4 of the sustainable development goals which is quality education for all by 2030?

How did we get here?

1. Insecurity: this is one of the major reasons for the growing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. Wion the constant attacks of schools and kidnap of school children, many schools have been closed and learners are forced to stay away from the school for fear of being kidnapped or harmed in one way or the other.

2. Lack of value for Education: the increasing belief among our young people that education no longer guarantees one a good life is another contributing factor. Many have continued to express disappointment on why academic excellence is no longer appreciated or rewarded as it should be. A good example is a situation where a reality show winner gets an award, money, title and other things while a first-class graduate ends up getting just a special handshake.

3. Incessant strikes: education should be continuous and uninterrupted but that is what we have today considering the incessant strikes by public school teaching staff at different times?

4. Government's Insensitivity: through the underfunding of education

schools are unable to do the following:

a. Provide the needed conducive learning environment to keep learners in school?

b. Purchase learning tools and equipment to enhance learning?

c. Employ and pay qualified and experienced teachers?

d. Promote and fund research?

e. among others.

5. Internet fraud: this is popularly known as ‘yahoo-yahoo,’ and it is a fraudulent way of obtaining money from people both online and offline. The popularity and instant reward from defrauding unsuspecting people have made many young people including children decide not to return to school to engage in this as seen in the video posted earlier.

6. Health issues and unpleasant experiences: many children are out of school because they have one health issue or another such as sickle cell. There is also the category of children that also won’t return to school after an unpleasant treatment or experience, especially in schools such as rape, bullying and abuse.

7. Poverty: this has continued to make most parents withdraw their children from school because they can no longer afford their fees and other things.

8. Accessibility: many learners especially those in rural communities have to travel a long distance to and from school daily and they tend to give up at some point as a result of stress.

9. Child labour: parents voluntarily withdraw their children from school to become house helps, hawk or engage in one form of labour or the other to make money for the family’s upkeep.

10. Teenage pregnancy: it is common in this part of the world to find teenagers who get pregnant while still in school and refuse to return after delivery because of stigma and finance.

These are a few of the factors responsible for the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

Way Forward

1. Secure our schools and assure parents and students of safety

2. Make education action affordable and easily accessible.

3. Issue of child trafficking and labour should be addressed urgently.

4. Create platforms that encourage or celebrate or reward academic excellence.

5. Address all the issues highlighted above.

Any Hope?

Considering the present situation, many people may say that there is no hope for education in Nigeria but I appeal to everyone not to give up yet as there is still hope for a positive shift from where we are at the moment if the government and everyone play their parts.

Watch this Interview

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