Worried by the challenges posed by the about 20 million out-of-school children in the country, the upper chamber of the National Assembly on Wednesday resolved to tackle the challenges.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, has expressed concern over the development, noting that out-of-school children are willing tools for terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes in society.
The Senate has, however, mandated its Committees on Education (Basic & Secondary) to engage the Federal Ministry of Education, paying special attention to the issue of Out-of-School Children, with the ultimate objective of drastically reducing the number.
The Senate resolution was a sequel to a motion by Senator Adebule, Idiat Oluranti (APC, Lagos West), titled: “Compelling need to tackle the challenge of out-of-school children in Nigeria.”
The Senate also urged the Ministry of Education, Allied with its 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 menace and 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.
The upper chamber also urged the Ministry of Education and relevant agencies to set a time limit of two years for the diligent implementation of the UBE Act as stipulated in section 2 (2).
It also urges governments at all levels to implement targeted intervention programmes that will address all the factors militating against free access to quality and basic education particularly, multidimensional poverty and insecurity.
The lawmakers equally urged the Judiciary in the 36 States of the Federation to take steps towards setting up mobile courts for the enforcement of the UBE ACT.
Leading debate on the motion, Senator Adebule, said that the issue of out-of-school children had become worrisome, given the 2022 report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
She added that the report revealed that about 20 million Nigerian children were out of school, which represents ten percent of the estimated Nigerian population of 200 million people and also represents the highest number of Out of School Children from any country globally.
She said that though the Ministry of Education disputed the figure, but it was generally agreed that whatever the real figures, the issue of Out of School Children had become an albatross on the neck of the Nigerian State that must be dealt with as a matter of urgency, adding that the social impacts of having about 20 million Out of School Children on the Nigerian State would cut across many areas.
Insisting that there’s a need to address the issue while supporting the motion, the Deputy President of the Senate said, “I commend Sen. Adebule Idiat for moving this motion. Bringing it forward at this point is a big service to our nation. Education is said to be the bedrock of every society; its a pillar upon which every human being begins his or her life.
“It is very important, a sine qua non to having a good life. An uneducated person does not hear nor see because, he cannot separate the right from the 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 and Kaduna, and so many of the states in the northern part of Nigeria are the ones that are facing this big national calamity. What do we need to do?
“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, and cooperate bodies, 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, rest on you.
“Therefore, at individual levels, we must put this down to our parents, all the parents in Nigeria, take care of your child 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.”
Other senators, who contributed to the debate, supported the motion and all the prayers made by the sponsor, which were adopted by the Chamber.
