Senate urges FG, State govts to implement targeted programmes for out-of-school children

Ignatius Okorocha, Abuja

Disturbed by the high risk being faced by over 20 million out-of-school children in the country, the Senate on Wednesday urged the Federal and state governments to initiate programmes targeted towards alleviating the challenges of such children.

The upper chamber mandated its Committees on Education (Basic & Secondary) to engage the Federal Ministry of Education to pay special attention to the issue of out-of-school children with the ultimate objective of drastically reducing the number.

It also urged the Ministry of Education, its related parastatals and agencies such as the Universal Basic Education stakeholders including non-governmental organisations to severally and jointly bring up new strategies to effectively deal with out-of-school children problem as well as rekindle the national consciousness through sensitization and advocacy on the importance of education to the growth and development of our country and the benefits of having majority educated population.

These resolutions of the Senate followed a motion on “Compelling Need to tackle the challenge of out-of-school children in Nigeria,” sponsored by Sen. Adebule Idiat Oluranti (Lagos West).

The Red Chamber asked the Federal government to set a time limit of two years for the diligent implementation of the UBE Act as stipulated in section 2 (2)

It equally urged the Judiciary in the 36 States of the Federation to take steps towards setting up mobile courts to enforce the UBE ACT.

In her lead debate, the lawmaker noted this,” the issue of out-of-school children has become worrisome, given the 2022 report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that about 20 million Nigerian children are out of school which represents 10 per cent of the estimated Nigerian population of 200 million people and also represents the highest number of Out of School Children from any country globally;

“Also note that though the Ministry of Education disputed the figure, it is generally agreed that whatever the real figures, the issue of out-of-school children has become an albatross on the neck of the Nigerian State that must be dealt with as a matter of urgency;

“Further note that the social impacts of having about 20 million out-of-school children in the Nigerian State will include:

“Impediment to achieving some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially goal (4) which is to ensure inclusiveness and equitable quality of education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all;

“Providing easy pool for recruitment into criminal gangs, banditry and terrorism which are the biggest security issues the Nigerian State has been dealing with for many years.”

In his contribution, Deputy President of the Senate Senator Barau Jibrin commended Sen. Adebule Idiat for moving the motion noting that her bringing the motion forward at this point is a big a
service to our nation.

“Education is said to be the bedrock of every society; it is a pillar upon which every human being begins his or her life. It is something that is very important, a sine qua non to having a good life.

“An uneducated person does not hear nor see because he cannot separate right from left.

“We have a problem in this country even though the problem is more pronounced in some states than others. Of course, the states of Yobe, Borno, Kano, Katsina Kaduna, and so many of the states in the northern part of Nigeria are the ones that are really facing this big national calamity. What do we need to do?”

Continuing she said, “We need to collectively put our efforts together to find a solution to this menace.

“Therefore, we need to collectively at the individual level, local and state governments, the federal government, high network individuals, cooperate bodies, we all need to come collectively together to make sure we find a solution to this problem.

” There are also issues to do with those who bear children and don’t try to find ways of taking care of them, catering for them, you make sure that at any point in time, your children should be catered for.

“You should plan for them, think of the way to educate them and make sure you look after them properly as prescribed by God. Thank God we have people of faith in this country, Muslims and Christians. These two main religions, prescribe that you must take care of your child.

“Your child is someone that God has given to you to hold on his behalf, therefore, his shelter, clothing, education, his total well-being, rests on you.

“Therefore, at individual levels, we must put this down to our parents, all the parents in Nigeria, take care of your children before we move to the authorities.

“The authorities of course, it has been emphasized in several meetings, fora and conferences, that we should do all within our powers to make sure we surmount this national calamity,” she noted.