Themes

Abstract:

Since the 1950s, the Nigerian government has undertaken reforms and assessments to improve educational planning and delivery. Schemes and legal frameworks such as Universal Basic Education, Open School Programs and Alternative Schools, the Universal Basic Education Act, and the Child Rights Act exemplify efforts to universalize elementary education in the country. Yet, up to 20 million children and youth are currently out of school in Nigeria. Utilizing a literature review approach while taking MDG 2 and SDG 4 as points of departure, this article draws upon available data and examines the factors that foster inaccessible education for children in Nigeria vis a vis the effectiveness of policies and government interventions. We find that a lack of political will, corruption, unproductive spending by the Nigerian government, and insecurity, among other forces, subvert personal, state, and third-party efforts to improve educational outcomes. This study also highlights geopolitical disparities and socio-cultural realities as factors that impede policy/program design and implementation. We recommend reimagining the out-of-school children phenomenon by government agencies, NGOs, and civil society to focus on household-level intervention policies that reflect local socioeconomic conditions. It proposes initiating a sovereign annual fiscal audit and expenditure tracker to track the flow of funds from patrons or the government to the proposed beneficiaries. It also suggests a review of the UBEC Act of 2004 and recommends that schools be brought even closer to the children in crisis-stricken areas.

Keywords: Out-of-School Children; Basic Education; Policy; SDG; MDG; Nigeria

Authors : 

Chikezirim Nwoke, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University, Canada.

Stanley Oyiga, Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba, Canada

Logan Cochrane, College of Public Policy – Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Qatar

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