Child-education: A sobering report

The recent report of the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) about the status of Nigerian children is quite frightening. It is revealed that approximately 10 million Nigerian children of school age are not attending any formal education, in other words, they are not in school. It was a report given by UNICEF’s Deputy Country Representative in Nigeria, Robert Limlim, in Abuja.

Limlim said, of that figure, 4.7 million are of primary school age while 5.3 million are those who ought to be in secondary school. Again, he said that of the number of children not attending school, 62 percent are girls and that gender disparity against the girls is worse at the secondary school level with a ratio of 44 percent.

The northern states of the federation have a more sobering picture. For, according to the UNICEF’s representative, only 49 percent of primary school age are boys and 34 percent are girls. Worse is that majority of these drop out of school by the end of primary four, which would mean that transition rate to secondary school is low.

These are indeed frightening revelations and they are facts of our country; a country hoping to compete and be relevant in a world that is knowledge-propelled. It is a scary report also because it puts the nation in danger of having a potential army of socially disoriented and misfits. Today, societies are structured in such a way that the uneducated hardly has any serious relevance both to himself and to the society. It stands to reason, therefore, that any nation that harbours a preponderance of these individuals, is a nation set for a major catastrophe.

It is imperative to state that in present human advancement, education remains the centrepiece for human and national developments. It is the critical element in civilization and therefore cannot and must not be seen as a secondary item in the menu of our national priorities.

It will then mean that government at all levels must re-appraise its policies, especially in the area of education. It is unfortunate that over the years, governments have been glossing over the issue of providing quality education to citizens. Even when it is available, only children of the few well-to-do and better-placed individuals in the society can assess it. This can also explain why our national development index is as pathetic as it is today.

What then should be done? As already said, there must be urgent and holistic re-appraisal of the country’s education policy that will address all the deficits and deficiencies that are working against not only the delivery of quality education, but also making school and learning attractive to those who otherwise would have felt disinterested. People must also be debriefed of the popular notion that education is only a meal ticket.

They should be made to know that that is just half of the truth. Education makes the total person. It is important for them to know that the quality of the human person – of his thoughts, words, actions and, in fact, his appreciation of everything around him – is to a large extent, a function of how well-educated he is.

Perhaps, too, the idea of giving free education to girls should be seriously considered. The report we considered above, if anything, is a show of how the girl-child has been relegated, wittingly or unwittingly. From our experience as a people, we know that the fate of the girl-child, as educating her is concerned, is a result of the callous and jaundiced patriarchal reaches of the Nigerian society. The way tradition views gender issues must change. It is not uncommon to see parents giving more attention and resources to the education of the boy to the disadvantage of the girl. It is beyond doubt that an educated mother is a far better mother and a better human being.

The place of poverty in this sobering report cannot be overemphasized. Unless we want to embark on a journey of self-deceit, the pervading poverty across the land is a major contributory factor to having many of our children out of school. It is uncomfortable to say, but it is time, that there is severe poverty spread across Nigeria.

The fact is that any parent who cannot afford the very basic things of life; anyone who ekes out a living on a daily basis, can ill-afford to put his child in school. And because of poverty and associated afflictions, some of these children have become breadwinners of their families. It goes without saying, therefore, that there must be overhaul of the entire Nigerian system.