Rising army of out of school children: Nigeria sitting on time bomb

16 year old Kabiru Mustapha left Katsina to Kano State at the age of 6. Mustapha who was taken to Kano state alongside several other children within the same age bracket as his by one Usman Abdulahi has no knowledge of who his biological parents were because he was abandoned as a child.

Although Mustapha like every other child, would like to go through a formal education; unfortunately, there is nobody to see him through school.
He said, “If I have the opportunity, I would love to go through a formal education to enable me take care of myself and the people around me”.

The story of 12 year old Amina Abubakar, who under a scorching sun in Yan Hula, Kanti Kwari market in Kano State sells sachets of purified water to motorists caught in traffic jam was also not different.

“My family is poor and I have to vend water to assist”, said Abubakar, who has four siblings, and spends her days waving in and out of the traffic, breathing in the choking fumes.

“My father is old and without a job. My mother plaits women’s hair for a fee but what she makes is too meagre to support us,” she told the Daily Times.

On his part, 52 year old trader ,Ibrahim Gwammada of Kurna Fagge Local Government Area also in Kano state said he want his two children to go to school but he had no money to send them to school.

One of his sons, Yusuf Gwammada who spoke with our correspondent, said he would like to pass through a formal education to enable him build a good house and also drive a good car.

“I know that if I am able to go to school, I will build a big house and buy a good car. I will be able to take care of myself and my family but unfortunately the business my father is doing cannot provide the sufficient funds required to see me through school.

” If the government can assist my father, I am ready to go to school .” Gwammada added.

The rising number of out of school children in most Northern states in Nigeria has a direct link to poverty, especially in rural areas inhabited by the Hausa/Fulani.

In spite of the huge money allocated to primary education by the states and agencies in charge of free and compulsory primary education, there has been no improvement over the years as the figures keep increasing.

Despite the passage of both the Child Rights Act , 2003 and the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act 2004, making the first 9 years of a child’s education , primary and junior secondary school as a basic right of children, access to basic education remained elusive to millions of Nigerian children.

The United Nations Children Fund’s (UNICEF) survey indicate that, 69 percent of out-of-school children in Nigeria are from the Northern region.

The organisation, quoting the latest Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) data, said the North East had the largest number of out-of-school children followed by the North West.

Nigeria, according to the Universal Basic Education Commission and Federal Ministry of Education’s Demography Health Survey (DHS), shows that, currently, 13.2million children are out of school.

Speaking at a two-day media dialogue in Kano to promote equity in education for children, UNICEF Education Specialist, Azuka Menkiti, urged both the states and the Federal Government to increase budgetary allocation and ensure the release and utilisation of funds meant for the educational sector in order to reduce the large number of out –of school children in the country.

Menkiti said within the huge number of out-of-school children in the country , girls are in the majority, especially in northern Nigeria.

She said: “The latest Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) data shows that 11.5 million children out of school in Nigeria, million or 69 percent are in northern states.

North east has the largest number of out-of-school children followed by the North West.

“With this number, Nigeria accounts for more than one in five out-of-school child globally, and 45 percent of out-of-school children in West Africa. Within the huge number of out-of-school children, girls are in the majority especially in northern Nigeria.

“The recent security threats to schools in the north east as well as other parts of Nigeria has contributed significantly to the low demand for and access to education especially for girls.

“The reality is that children are missing education in Nigeria and a lot of them are coming from northern Nigeria and that is why our interventions are needed more in this region.

“Everybody is worried about the huge figures of number of out-of-schools in Nigeria. Insurgency in the north eastern Nigeria has been especially damaging to the education system.

“Budgetary allocation is not the problem. But will power of government at all levels to release funds earmarked educational purposes. There are some states that when allocation of 15 percent is made to education, they won’t release a kobo.”

UNICEF added that it was important for governments at all levels to put interventions in place to ensure all children go to school in order to facilitate national growth and development.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, declared at a public forum recently that Nigeria’s future depended on producing children who are prepared to take their place in tomorrow’s society.

According to Mohammed, investing in education , protection of the most disadvantaged, especially children and addressing inequality would ensure sustained growth and stability of any nation.

The minister said: “Unfortunately, a large number of Nigerian children are at risk of deprivations of basic social amenities. They are situated in the rural and hard-to-reach communities.

Majority of them are also living in conflict and communities under emergencies and it has been difficult taking basic amenities to them.

“Government has since come to the realised that basic education is essential for every child. Lack of access to this basic service is an infringement on the rights of the child.

“There is a growing evidence that investing in education and protection of the most disadvantaged/vulnerable citizens as well as addressing inequality will ensure sustained growth and stability of any nation.

“There is need to integrate children, especially those in difficult terrain and other excluded children and focus on equitable distribution of opportunities now, as it is a giant stride towards the realisation of human rights of children.”

Also, an Education and Development Consultant for UNICEF, Dayo Ogundimu, said there was a looming calamity in the country if the governments continued to provide poor quality education and inequity in education.

He said: “There is a calamity looming in this country if we continue to provide poor quality education and inequity in education. Every society that realizes the importance of education will not toy with the future of the children.

“Every child, male or female, desire to have good and quality education so that we can achieve our goals as a nation.

“We cannot afford to leave anybody behind no matter the circumstances they find themselves”.

UNICEF intervention:
Strengthening Education Systems
UNICEF helps improve planning, budgeting and monitoring, and assess learning outcomes and teacher competency. It also helps build the capacity of School Based Management Committees (SBMC).

Improved and equitable access to quality basic education
Supports early childhood development in disadvantaged communities, and helps traditional Koranic schools adopt a broader curriculum.

Cash transfers are being piloted in Sokoto and Niger states to help families afford the cost of sending girls to schools, while scholarship incentives help attract qualified female teachers to rural schools.

Improved quality of teaching and learning outcome
UNICEF helps teachers improve their skills, promotes quality standards for child-friendly schooling, and supports capacity building for emergency preparedness and response.

Meanwhile, as Nigeria struggles to rid itself of the Boko Haram menace, farmers and herders clashes, the 13.2million out-of-school children represent a grim future for the country, one characterized by grave socioeconomic and security consequences for Africa’s most populous nation.

Poor or lack of education has been identified and recognized as one of the causative factors for recruitment into insurgency and engagement in violent behaviours.

It is apparent that if nothing concrete is done to close the gap in access to schooling and education generally, insurgent elements will have a pool of young persons that can easily be recruited, brain-washed and dumped hence greater danger of deepening the crisis.

Unless all stakeholders come together to urgently salvage the situation, the 13.2million -out-of school children in Nigeria, which represents a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode with dire consequences on socio-economic,cultural and educational advancement of Nigeria.