Challenges of Child Education in Northern Nigeria

The education gap between most states in the northern part of Nigeria and their southern counterparts is growing for several reasons, including the inability of schools to cover syllabus early. The Challenges of Child Education in Northern Nigeria are further compounded by a lack of qualified teachers, especially in core subject areas. Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, about 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school. Only 61 percent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education which most of these children are from the north.

Some Facts that speak to the Challenges of Access to education in Northern Nigeria:

• According to UNICEF statistics www.unicef.org.ng/edu, Even though education is supposed to be free and compulsory, about a 10.5million children nationally aged 5-14 (Basic School Classes) are out of school.
• Of the total number of those who are registered in lower basic and middle basic i.e. age 16-11 equivalent to primary 1-6, only 61% are regular.
• Still of the number registered, only 35.6% of 36-59 months (3-5 years) have access to early childhood education.
• In the north, the picture is even bleaker.

The school attendance rate is put at 53%.

• The North West and the north east have school attendance rates for the girl child put at 47.3 and 47.7 respectively.
• This means that more than half of the girls are out of school (Nnadu, Avidime, Oguntunde, Dashe, Abdulkareem, and Mandara (2010) ) agree with the statistic.
• It is further estimated that 35% and 29% of school-aged children in North West and north east respectively receive koranic education which does not include basic skills in literacy and numeracy in the Nigerian official language of communication and because of that government does not consider them as out of school children officially. This may be the reason for the attempt made to integrate the koranic/Tsangaya Almajiri School into the basic school.
• These realities are indeed worrisome to every one of us when we consider the fact that education and in particular Formal education has consistently, right from the colonial days to today, remained the key socio-political as well as socio-economic means of advancement and empowerment.
• The child right act (UNICEF 1999) stipulates: “every child (male or female) is entitled to receive free and compulsory basic education and equal opportunity for higher education based on individual ability”. This has since been domesticated and captured in the Nigerian national policy of education

There are many Challenges to Child Education in Northern Nigeria which would be highlighted below.

SMALLER NGO OFFER FLASHES OF SUCCESS IN NORTHERN REGIONS

Offering standard educational facilities is a major requirement for any successful educational policy. In Northern Nigeria, this has to be paired up with sensitizing parents and wards on the rewards of education. That’s why smaller non-governmental organizations seem to have more success in the region than other larger organizations.

The few Nigerian non-governmental organizations providing educational services operating in the region, show success in the regions they operate in. Meadows foundation operates in Maiduguri, training primary students to qualify for secondary schools. In a region where insecurity has led to discontinued educational services and low enrollment ratios, their operated learning center remains oversubscribed. Teach for Nigeria has partnered with primary schools in Kaduna, and is providing educated graduates to such schools to teach kids various subjects.

Both organizations have made use of highly dedicated staff in the region to teach and sensitize parents in the region to bring out their wards for schooling. Readers as an example have made adjustments to school timetables in order to encourage enrollment.

POOR FUNDING:

Poor funding is one of the major Challenges to Child Education in Northern Nigeria. Education in Nigeria is overseen by the Ministry Of Education. Local authorities take responsibility for implementing policy for state-controlled public education and state schools at a regional level. This makes the funding of education basically a governmental affair. Due to the long-existing high level of corruption in all levels of government, education in Northern Nigeria has always suffered inappropriate funding which has led to poor infrastructure, absence of suitable teaching aids, and nonpayment of teachers\’ allowances. Also, a sharp decline in crude oil prices which is the primary source of government revenue has plummeted the country into a recession which has led to severe cuts in government spending, further worsening the poor funding situation of Nigeria’s education system. This has led to striking actions, school closure, and massive student protests all over the country. The financial crisis also dried up scholarship funds for foreign study, placing constraints on international student flow from Nigeria.

UNAVAILABILITY OF QUALIFIED TEACHERS:

In Nigeria, the poor working condition, poor remuneration, and allowances the teachers are subjected to have discouraged capable and qualified teachers from taking up teaching jobs, they rather apply for other better-paying jobs than teaching, while the few teachers who have taken up the teaching profession did so due to lack of better jobs, hence, their low level of dedication as they are always on the lookout for greener pastures. This directly affects output as the quality of education is drastically reduced by this menace.

FAILURE TO ACCOMMODATE THE RISING POPULATION DEMANDS:

The total population of Nigeria as of independence stands at 45.2 million, but this isn’t the case now as the country has witnessed an astronomical rise in its population. As of 2015, Nigeria’s population was estimated to be 182.2 million, this is one of the major challenges for child education in northern Nigeria as the education system has not been able to fully enroll its rapidly rising population. For instance, Nigeria’s basic education sector is overburdened by strong population growth. In 2015, the country’s population under the age of 15 was about 44 percent. The system fails to integrate large parts of this growing youth population. According to the United Nations, 8.73 million elementary school-aged children in 2010 did not participate in education at all, most of which were the almajiri children. They constitute the largest group of out-of-school children in Nigeria. These boys are sent to Qur’anic teachers to receive an Islamic education, which includes vocational or apprenticeship training. Some are involved in street begging. The Ministry of Education estimated that there were 9.5 million almajiri children in the northern part of the country in 2010, making Nigeria the country with the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. The net enrollment rate at the elementary level was 63.8 percent compared to a global average of 88.8 percent. This low rate of enrollment in basic education in Nigeria has further increased the illiteracy level in Nigeria. The country in 2015 had a youth literacy rate of 72.8 percent and an adult literacy rate of 59.6 percent compared to global rates of 90.6 percent and 85.3 percent in 2010 respectively (data reported by the World Bank).

ACADEMIC FRAUD, CORRUPTION, AND INDISCIPLINE:

In Nigeria, there have been numerous reports of corruption and indiscipline in Nigeria’s education system, most especially in the higher institutions where cases of cultism in schools have been on the rise as well as bribery to pass exams. Academic fraud is endemic at all levels of education. Other forms of academic misconduct that have plagued the Nigerian education system ranges from cheating during examinations to more serious inglorious acts such as impersonation, falsifying academic records, paying for grades or certificates with gifts, money, or sexual favors, terrorizing examiners and assaulting invigilators e.t.c.

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You can also read about Girl-Child Education in Northern Nigeria and Male Child Education