BY DUPE ISENAME
Education is the building block of every society, It is a fundamental human right and one of the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Uneducated children are willing tools in scaling up security challenges including other implications such as shortage of skilled manpower in the futu , bad international image , high socioeconomic and dependency issues.
In Nigeria, the growing number of out-of-school children has become a national emergency even as the minister of education, Mallam Yusuf Sununu described it as a time bomb.
Latest data from UNESCO in partnership with the Global Education and Monitoring Report put Nigeria’s out-of-school children number at 20.2 million, doubling the 10.5 million figures quoted for decades.
UNICEF adds that one in three children in Nigeria is out of school, totalling 10.2 million at the primary level, and 8.1 million at the junior secondary school level while one in every five out-of-school children in the world is in Nigeria.
These statistics are depressing and cast a bleak future on the country.
In recent years, South-West states have also been contributing significantly to the national out-of-school population, indicating the declining school enrollment in the region ,
buttressing this was the Executive Chairman of Ondo State Universal Basic Education, SUBEB, Rt. Hon. Victor Olabimtan who during a media parley held in Akure, the Ondo State Capital disclosed that there were about 240,000 out-of-school children in the state.
On addressing the ugly trend, Hon Olabimtan underscored that the pivotal role and collaborative efforts of the Press is in the realm of massive advocacy against the menace of out-of-school children in the state.
“One of the areas we need the collaborative efforts of the Press is in the realm of massive advocacy against the growing menace of out-of-school children in the state . The truth is that it has become a serious socioeconomic issues because it has become a breeding ground for social and political miscreants. Empirical statistics have repudiated the initial beliefs that Out of Schools is only prevalent in the northern part of the Country. Studies have shown it is a growing menace in this part of the world without leaving out our State. The truth is that every School age child you see Hawking or doing one menial activity on our Roads, Streets and in doing menial of School going age; 1 – 12 and not in School is an OUT OF SCHOOL CHILD. This menace is growing everyday and need the efforts of all stakeholders especially the Press through your Reportage and continuous advocacy on the Radio and Television Stations harping on the advantages of a literate Society over an illiterate one.” Olabimtan said
From the angle of government, the Ondo SUBEB Boss believed the menace informed the Federal Government to source for fund to finance the development of basic education in the country appreciating the interventions of the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC .
” I want to commend the Management of Universal Basic Education Commission UBEC, Abuja under the leadership of the Executive Secretary Engr Hammad Bobboyi for providing the needed leadership and also thanked Ondo State Government for providing the matching grants to upscale infrastructural and Educational development in Public Primary Schools and some Junior Secondary Schools in the country in order to make our schools more friendly for teaching and learning.”
Listing out the successes of the board , Hon Olabimtan said ” When this government came on stream in February 24, 2017, the state of infrastructures and quality of curriculum in most of our schools are nothing to write home about. Most of the structures in our Primary Schools were in the State of despair, becoming a haven for dangerous reptiles and men of the underworld and miscreants who have taken over schools as they homes thereby endangering the lives of the Pupils and the teachers alike.”
” This was the situation the present Government inherited and the government latched unto the opportunity by paying the matching grants put at over N3.9 billion with additional same amount from UBEC.
The government was able to turn round the narrative for better. With the fund, the Board has been able to construct, reconstruct and Rehabilitate over 900 classrooms, fences, bole – holes, Toilets, provided learners Chairs and Desks, Tables for their Teachers, ECCD equipment, Sporting equipments as well as Instructional Materials for pupils and their teachers value at over N22 billion to make our schools more attractive for both teaching and learning. The effects of this huge investment can be seen in the performance of teachers and Pupils alike in Internal and external examinations. Last year, our students performed excellently at a National JET Competition in far away, Nasarawa State, where they came First and Third in both Primary and Junior Secondary School JSS Categories .”
The SUBEB Chairman who disclosed that teachers welfare and their promotion were being attended to promptly bemoaned unpatriotic activities of vandals in the habit of damaging public schools however mentioned that it was now being tackled.
Hon Olabimtan enjoined all stakeholders to play their part in protecting and promoting education in the society and eradicate the menace of out-of-school children.