Plight of Nigeria’s out-of-school children

In Zamfara State, a recent report indicated that 403, 090 children of Early Childhood Care Development (ECCD) age were out of school. The Desk Officer of the ECCD programme in the state, Hajiya Maryam Ibrahim, said that the state population of ECCD-age children was 436, 580, but only 33,490 were enrolled in pre-primary schools. Maryam […]

In Zamfara State, a recent report indicated that 403, 090 children of Early Childhood Care Development (ECCD) age were out of school. The Desk Officer of the ECCD programme in the state, Hajiya Maryam Ibrahim, said that the state population of ECCD-age children was 436, 580, but only 33,490 were enrolled in pre-primary schools. Maryam identified ‘nonchalant attitude’ of parents and ‘low articulation of government policy directive’ relating to pre-primary school age programme as major challenges.
 The number of out-of-school children is in fact much higher when both dropouts, who are unable to complete school, and others who because of many challenges and disadvantages, have been shut out of the school system, are added up.  This would suggest that dropout kids may indeed be only a fraction of the wider out-of-school problem. .
UNICEF figures indicate that about 52 percent of out-of-school children are in sub-Saharan Africa and another 22 percent in South and West Asia. In both regions, enrolment of girls is lower than that of boys. Fifty percent of the out-of-school children live in conflict-affected countries.
Although 9-year basic education is free and compulsory in Nigeria, only 54 percent of primary school pupils transit to junior secondary schools, poverty, physical disability, child labour, migration, cultural factors and conflicts being factors. Insurgency, for instance, has forced many children in the North-East of the country out of school. There is a growing disinclination among children in some areas in the region to go to school, a disturbing trend.  
It has become increasingly difficult over the years for government to make education accessible to children that have been excluded or marginalized from formal education due to lack of policy initiatives to address the problem. For example, the physically challenged, like the blind, the deaf and the dumb, are excluded from formal education because the government has not provided exclusive schools to address their special needs. Compared to other sub-Saharan African countries, investment by government in education in Nigeria is low. With the goal to achieve education for all by 2015, this funding gap must be bridged.
The junior secondary school curriculum, which is designed to equip students with skills in vocational and technical subjects (including auto-mechanics, metal work, furniture making, building, clothing and textiles, etc), in addition to academic knowledge, has not addressed the functional aspect. Children who are unable to proceed to the senior secondary level of education should be able to engage in entrepreneur vocation for a life-long career. This is not the case at the moment. No official transition programme exists for taking in students from junior secondary schools at technical colleges. This should be corrected too.
Efforts by the government to make the Nomadic Education programme and the Almajiri Education Initiative should go beyond paying lip service and official launching ceremonies. The state of emergency in the education sector that President Goodluck Jonathan declared in 2009 has shown little practical effect. The government should revisit it in order to get it on track. If the plight of out-of-school children including dropouts and other critical challenges currently confronting education in Nigeria are to be properly tackled, it is important for that state of emergency to be activated without further delay.