FCT Abuja-UBEB Advocacy Programme for Out of School Children Cannot Solve the Problem

• Government Must Provide Free and Quality Education to Students

By Samuel Sankara, DSM, Abuja

The Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja is said to have adopted a new strategy to tackle the increasing number of out-of-school children in the FCT by transforming its head-to-head debate competition into a full advocacy initiative to address the issue of out-of-school children. According to a release by the body this will involve making students become advocates of education for their peers who are not enrolled in school.

This initiative doesn’t address the root causes of out-of-school children, which has become an epidemic in Abuja and many parts of the country.  It equally fails to understand the complexity of the factors and root causes that accelerate this problem faced in the educational sector and the educational institutions of the Nigerian state as this is a national issue affecting every state in Nigeria as a country and not just the FCT as this educational body (UBEB) is making it look.

Firstly, for many years, governments at all levels have deliberately neglected public education resulting to lack of proper funding to revamp the educational institutions in the country and equip them with modern facilities and equipment to aid a proper learning experience and a conducive environment by building more structures in our schools and educational centers across the country. This will engage schools to be adequately positioned to absorb the growing population in Nigeria. This prevailing inadequate funding also means that those admitted will have to face harsh conditions. For instance, students in many public schools in Abuja study and live without social amenities, such as decent classrooms, good accommodations, water, electricity, and security. There have been many news reports of primary schools where students learn under trees due to the infrastructural collapse of buildings, and in some cases, students learn in dilapidated classrooms. Indeed, on March 24, teachers in public primary schools in the FCT embarked on the fourth strike in four months over the non-implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage by the chairmen of the six area councils (Punch April 7).  Considering this reality, how would schooling become attractive to the millions of out-of-school children?

The rising economic hardship in Nigeria has also aided the increasing number of out-of-school children, as most people cannot meet the unending financial demands of schools in Nigeria. Feeding is already a problem in most families, as children have to engage in menial work or hawking to contribute to the sustenance of the family. Many families have had to withdraw their wards from the school because they could not keep up with the economic reality.

Also, the government has turned a deaf ear to the plight of educational workers who are maltreated by the system. They are teaching and working under harsh conditions that deprive them of living a comfortable life while building the supposed leaders of tomorrow, and this has affected the quality of the service they can deliver.

Lastly, the high tuition fees charged in the Nigerian school systems is quite alarming as education that is supposed to be free has completely gone out of reach for average Nigerian citizens. Parents cannot afford to pay their children fees, youths who are the one sponsoring themselves in schools have become unable to meet up with the raising costs of fees while still battling with the other economic challenges. Working people are faced with such as feeding, hospital bills, rent, transportation and so on whose costs are rising without any efforts by the government to reduce the suffering.  This situation has also created condition for rise in vices such as prostitution, robbery, cultism in various school environs.

No amount of advocacy made to out-of-school children can truly address the issue. The FCT Minister, area council chairmen and the FCT-UBEB should focus their energy on improving the quality of education and welfare of teachers, providing facilities and making education functional and free for students. Also, parents, students, educational workers, and the Nigerian masses must raise their voices to campaign against the chronic underfunding of the education sector and its undemocratic management. We of the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) campaign for adequate funding of public education and democratizing the running and decision-making process of public schools and education departments.