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News - November 20, 2018

UNICEF, others express concern over rising rate of out of school children in Nigeria

The need to check the increasing rate of out of school children in Nigeria was brought to the fore during a recent field trip organized by the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) and the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

The issue was extensively discussed during a two days dialogue on ‘Promoting Equity in Education for Children’ in Kano State.

According to reports from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the number of Out of School Children increased from 10.5 million to 13.2 million by 2010 to 2015.

The increasing rate is a major concern despite the fact that the right of children to access basic Education in a 21st Centenary Education System still remains a very critical aspect of child education in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, children’s Rights are protected by law under the Child Rights Act of 2003 and held sacred, not only does the law protect the child; it also stipulates punishment for adults who take advantage of children or seek to negatively influence them. The law seeks to prevent cruelty against children while stating the rights and obligations of the Nigerian Child.

An encounter with Umar Abdulahi a seven years old boy from Kastina State was a case study on the plight of the Nigerian child who is being denied of his right to access basic education by his parent.

Umar was seen wandering in front of Tofa model primary school in Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State. He was watching other children going to school with no hope that he could get the opportunity to acquire the basic education knowledge.

When asked why he was not in school, he said, “my father brought me to Kano to attend Almajiri School. I told my father to let me attend primary school and he said no.”

Umar explained that he used to roam the street begging for alms in order to feed, and that whatever he got, he would feed alone without returning anything for his master.

Umar is one among the 13.2 million children who are out of school in Nigeria with the hope becoming deam everyday of seeing them becoming the next Professor ‘Wole Soyinka’ a noble Laurent or ‘Chimamanda Adichie’.

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