In the past, the resumption of a new academic session after a long vacation, used to be a thing of joy for both parents and students, even for the teachers. The expression of happiness, from all indications, appeared to have waned, owing to the present economic situation in the country. In Nigeria today, no one is smiling, except those who are pretending that all is well because it favours them, especially those in corridors of power. The government knows this, but unfortunately, continues to blunder on issues that touch the life of the common man.
The report on the number of out-of-school children, mostly in the Northern parts of the country, has remained on the increase compared with other regions of the country. This was why the general public, through reports monitored on radio and television viewed expressly the idea of limiting the age of secondary school students which restricts them from either sitting for Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, SSCE or being admitted into tertiary schools before 18 years when the kite was flown by the Education Minister, Alhaji Tahir Mamman recently, drew the ire of the public.
But the minister later denied the report and its intent. Going by the present economic climate, if not checked it would appear that the number of out-of-school children may double, if not quadruple. Besides, there is this fear also that the number of school dropouts may increase exponentially, owing to the inability of parents to pay their children’s school fees. Education in Nigeria is not cheap because the government for long has neglected the sector, making way for high patronage of Private schools by parents. With the harsh economic reality, there is panic among the parents blamed on hike in school fees by private schools, far beyond what the people can afford.
There are lamentations across the land. Those working in the private or public sectors can no longer meet their financial obligations. All happening at a time thousands of graduates are leaving schools yearly without any hope of securing employment. So many businesses too have closed shops, with many more on the verge of collapsing, regrettably though. The seventy thousand naira (#70,000) minimum wage signed into law by the current government is yet to reflect on the salaries of both states and federal government workers, and yet, prices of goods continue to soar on daily basis. Unfortunately, the general condition of living, arising from; high cost of transportation, spike in the prices of food items, accommodation, and now, high cost of petroleum products, free fall of the naira against the dollar, insecurity, and all have become the albatross of the people, and may likely linger on if the government fails to reverse the trend.
Insecurity and hunger in the country have become a nightmare to the people. Having more number of out-of-school children at this time would rather complicate the fragile situation in the nation. Education should be the right of every Nigerian child, no matter where he or she comes from. The idea of allowing parents to cater for their wards’ education, even when the economic environment is not ennobling, to say the least, is a disservice to school age children. Government should therefore, ensure that the issue of the economy, high transportation costs, occasioned by the hike in fuel price are addressed.
In the 21st century, it’s not cheering news that Nigeria should be talking about out-of-school children while in other climes education is the least of their challenges. Toying with the education of our children who are the future leaders of tomorrow, is simply tampering with the soul of the nation, which sadly, the leaders of today want to sacrifice on the altar of politics. Every child deserves better education. That is the only way Nigeria would navigate through her multiplicity of challenges, going forward.
