The newly released Report by the United Nation’s International Children’s Fund, UNICEF, which showed that Nigeria now occupies the number 1 position in Out-of-School Children globally, has been described as a development disaster of which the Country’s authorities and all Stakeholders must work immediately and assiduously to reverse.
The Save – Public – Education – Campaign Nigeria, gave this charge while reacting to the Report released by the UN Body’s Country Office in Nigeria on Wednesday of this week in which it detailed that a total of 18.3 pupils are out of school in Nigeria.
According to the Convener of the Education Campaign Group, Comrade Vivian Bello, the Report is yet another tragic reminder of not only the crisis in the educational sector of which government by it’s actions and inactions, is responsible for, but importantly also, the mis-placement of priorities the Country suffers from, stating that the outcome of it was what was merely reflected by the Report.
She pointed out that one does not need to look far to see that the combination of multiple negative factors including inadequate budgetary provisions, poor planning, insecurity, growing households poverty, cultural and religious beliefs and practices amongst others, ultimately brought the Country to this absymall global ranking adding that it is unfortunate that even Countries at war, still fared better than Nigeria in the index.
In her words, ” occupying this grim position globally on Out-of-School Children is indeed the time to take a hard look at our development aspirations as a country side by side outcomes as these and realize that if anything, this is an alarm bell that should not by any means be ignored. This is so because of the danger that doing otherwise poses to the Country and to everyone in it. Harnessing the teeming Country’s youthful population and potentials can only be done by effective Education otherwise this population becomes a veritable threat to national security and national development too. The Country must therefore re-order it’s priorities, see the education of it’s young population as a critical national asset and treat it so accordingly”.
It will be recalled, that the Save – Public – Education – Campaign, Nigeria, has before now, severally pushed for the proper funding of Education in the country through adequate budgetary allocations that meet global standard thresholds as well as the enforcement of the Child’s Rights Act, which imposes compelling mandate on both the government as well as Parents to avail every Nigerian Child of his Right to free and qualitative Basic Education. The Campaign therefore charged the Minister of Education to rise to his responsibilities and swing into action in implementing the Child’s Rights Act, the UBEC Act and other legal instruments already emplaced towards not only bringing Nigeria out of the doldrums of the potent danger that the status quo poses but also bringing about positive transformative outcomes for the Country’s educational and developmental Aspirations.
