THE POWER OF EDUCATION

The authorities must invest more in education

As people all over the world today mark the 2025 International Day of Education under the theme ‘AI and education: Preserving human agency in a world of automation’, it is important that stakeholders in the country reflect on the power of education to equip individuals and communities at a period far too many children are out of school in Nigeria. But even for those who are, most can hardly read or write, particularly those in the North-east. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) the region is experiencing a severe learning crisis as three out of four school children cannot read or solve simple mathematical problems before they enter Primary Six.

To be sure, the impact of the Boko Haram insurgency on education in the Northeast is harrowing. At the last count, more than 700 teachers have been killed while thousands of others remain displaced due to the protracted conflict. In addition, more than a thousand schools have been damaged or destroyed, with the forced closure of almost 2000 schools. More than a million children have also lost access to learning while 75 per cent of children in camps do not attend any school. Meanwhile, there is ample evidence that the social miscreants and religious bigots that have destroyed the North-east are largely recruited from the army of uneducated people who grew up without any hope for their future.

But while Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States are in the rear obviously because of the adverse effect of the prolonged insurgency, the challenge is national. The education crisis is affecting children across the country. At least 20.5 million children are reportedly out of school in Nigeria, many deliberately out of neglect. Indeed, across the country, several studies and reports speak volumes about the abject neglect of infrastructure in schools. And to worsen matters, it does not appear as if the relevant authorities as well as critical stakeholders are paying attention. In many rural communities, classrooms are an essential commodity with the result that children study under trees. In the urban centres that have the luxury of being provided with classrooms, many of them are dilapidated with leaking roofs, cracked walls and without windows. In many of these states, especially across the northern region, children sit on the floor as there are no reading tables and chairs for them.

The deplorable learning conditions are worsened by lack of teachers in most of the primary schools. Many more schools in rural communities have no teachers at all, leaving the children to their own devices with all the dire consequences for the future of our country. Even the schools provided with teachers are not better off. Almost every state has, at one time or anther, reported cases of unqualified teachers who failed a test conducted to determine their competency. 

Nigeria’s falling standard of education can only be halted through adequate funding. It is an immediate imperative. The schools must be equipped with basic infrastructure, learning tools and competent teachers to make learning attractive. And the classrooms must be safe. There should also be an intensive enlightenment campaign to change the orientation of the parents and guardians who seem not to appreciate what damage they are doing to the future of their children and wards by not putting them in school. 

Fortunately, most of the states have subscribed to the Child Rights Act. It should be enforced. Besides, as we have also suggested, and still reiterate, states should tap into the Universal Basic Education Fund and make use of grants which many governors have failed to utilise for fear of accountability. On a day such as this, we endorse the idea that every child in Nigeria should be in school.

Related Articles