6 million Nigerian children out of school – UNESCO
Ayomide Owonibi, Lagos
Friday, January 9, 2009
The Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, has estimated the number of children out of school in Nigeria to be six million.

While speaking at a lecture marking the 100th anniversary of Kings College, Lagos, Mr. Matsuura said 75 million of children in the world were out of school, and 40 per cent could be found in Africa with 75 per cent being girls.

“Education is the pivotal aim of UNESCO. The body faces challenges of ensuring every school age child has access to education, which is a basic fundamental human right as a citizen of any country, regardless of gender,” he said.

Mr. Maatsuura said King’s College was an achievement for Africa, and UNESCO was proud to be associated with the college which was recognised in the world.

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, stressed the need for quality education as a tool for empowerment to fight poverty and other vices.

He lauded Kings College at 100, adding that it had produced eminent Nigerians who had done the nation proud within and outside the country

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/jan/9/603.html

Unfortunately, the news is years old. No improvement for over 2 years.

What if the news is false?. I don't think we have up to 1M Nigerian children out of school. I am sure though, 70% of them are from the north and about 28% from the east and south south.

This one na news?

Could you for one moment in your life drop tribal sentiments and focus more on the issues that really face us as a nation? I am not sure where you live in Nigeria but you only have to open your eyes to see what is going on around you there. There are hundreds of kids who do not attend school each day in that country. Why else would the Lagos state Government, only a while ago, feel the need to institute a ban on child hawking DURING school hours? I am not exactly sure if the last administration did much to tackle the issue. I do remember the Adopt-a-school program advertised by the Federal ministry of education; not that I understand why a country, rich in oil and resources would need to call on private individuals and charities to do the job it was meant to for it’s own citizens. However, if the numbers remain this high, shows that most likely, the current administration has yet to look into tackling the problem much.

@kobojunkie

Do you honestly think this government in the interested in developing the education sector

I would say I hopefully pray it does; same way I hope all other political leaders focus on issues that affect the people and act on them. If he does not, I do hope we at least hold him responsible. Our cowardice continues to cost the next generation any hopes they have for a bright future.

I would say I hopefully pray it does; same way I hope all other political leaders focus on issues that affect the people and act on them. If he does not, I do hope we at least hold him responsible. Our cowardice continues to cost the next generation any hopes they have for a bright future.

Kobojunkie let me imitate you rolfmao!!! You are hopefully praying for this looters leaders to do something.Same Egwu change fortunes in education

Not to sound like the "I LOVE NIGERIA" loonies we have on here, but I happen to believe that the solutions to the problems we have are really simple, and we only need to elect/fight to install the right people to get the job done. In this case, it will not kill any of those "thieves" to actually spend money alloted for education where it should be spent. What I see is a people willing to allow the idiots continue to act like imbeciles while we sit, and play victims as the lives of our children continue to be sent down the garbage shaft. It is really painful to see how such simple easy fixes can be so hard to implement in a country, any country.

Not to sound like the "I LOVE NIGERIA" loonies we have on here, but I happen to believe that the solutions to the problems we have are really simple, and we only need to elect/fight to install the right people to get the job done. In this case, it will not kill any of those "thieves" to actually spend money alloted for education where it should be spent. What I see is a people willing to allow the idiots continue to act like imbeciles while we sit, and play victims as the lives of our children continue to be sent down the garbage shaft. It is really painful to see how such simple easy fixes can be so hard to implement in a country, any country.

Kobojunkie nigeria's problems are not simple as u might think.Nigeria has unresolved fundamental issues that if not addressed will continue to drag the nation down.

The funny bit is that when you're abroad and are studying in most of the best institutions, you'll come across surnames that always ring a bell. These are the surnames of the kids of our so called leaders all here getting the best and hence securing their future while at the same time living in the best accommodations.

While I was studying my masters, my colleague (I'll not mention his name so as not to expose him) was in a private accommodation near the city centre in a 2 bedroom pent house on the 11th floor with the best view of the city. He was paying approximately £1,100 monthly in Manchester and had been paying this for 4years (while living in the flat) because we both had the undergraduate as well as the MSc in that university.

He paid a minimum of £12,000 per annum also for 4 years (undergraduate and masters) and to top it off, his dad bought him a present as a present for his will to proceed to the MSc level. He was given a Mercedes-Benz C Class which though is not brand new but is less than 2years old, which he told me he paid £11,000 for (this is not a lie). He also bought a customised Gucci pair of shoes which he paid £2,000 for (I went with him so I know about this) and this is all part of the present.

What does his dad do? I once asked him. He told me that his dad used to be in charge of the Nigerian pension service and he even once mentioned that his dad is often criticised by the family members for not embezzling at all during his tenure in office while on the flip side of the coin,he's aware as much as I am aware that a lot of Nigerian pensioners have not been paid so you tell me how these guys would send their kids to school.

Another one, my cousin was supposed to study medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland but the tuition fees cost 20,000 Euros. Due to the fact that he couldn't afford it, he settled for Pharmacy and went to Kings' College London while his other friend (whose dad is in charge of the Nigerian general hospitals) went ahead and is probably in his 5th year now or so(I've actually lost touch with him).  Nigerians are paying through their nose to study abroad and if these facilities were there in the first instance, then they'll only have themselves to blame if they fail to utilise them.

This is the sorry state of my nation and I just doubt things would ever change even in the near future. Our educational sector (as well as other sectors) are crumbling but our leaders' kids travel abroad to get the best for themselves and that is what Nigeria has turned to. Even, Obasanjo's daughter (one of many) gave her university boyfriend a brand new car as a birthday present (according to a close friend). How a university student could afford to give away a brand-new car as a present is beyond my imagination, well I guess Obasanjo's daughter could.

@B.O.S.S
Do nigerian leaders believe in nigeria?

asha 80:



Kobojunkie nigeria's problems are not simple as u might think.Nigeria has unresolved fundamental issues that if not addressed will continue to drag the nation down.

well, I see those so called "unresolved issues" too, but I believe they are easily resolved, if only really wanted them resolved. What I see people doing instead is continue to boast of these issues as if without them their egos would seize to exist. How many are actually looking to solve these issues? Look around here on Nairaland before you respond.

asha 80:

@B.O.S.S
Do nigerian leaders believe in nigeria?

That is an absolute resounding NO, That could not be debated any further I'm afraid.

@kobojunkie

you say they are easy.well i do not know how long you have stayed in US because i am tempted to believe you are gradually geting westernised thereby slipping away from reality in nigeria.Let me digress a little bit fom the topic, A good eg of these unresolved issues is the issue of indegene/settler dichotomy that led the clashes in jos.This is an unresolved issue in the country as i am not aware of any law that gives indegenship to someone who was born and brougth up in a geographical area other than the place of his parents.However you and i know that is not the case in US and most developed countries.

Reading from your previous posts it seems you where born and brought up in lagos but i do not know if you are yoruba.Now can you conveniently come back to that same lagos and want to become the governor of the state without people telling it to your face that you are not 'shun of the soil' despite the fact u know little or nothing about the state or area your parents come from.I do not even want enter the issue of quota system.

asha 80:

@kobojunkie
you say they are easy.well i do not know how long you have stayed in US because i am tempted to believe you are gradually geting westernised thereby slipping away from reality in nigeria.

Roflmao!!! You know the funny thing? When I lived full-time in Nigeria, I heard the same sort of claims. I remember back in the university, I called on friends to help stand up against a particular instructor who we knew was sleeping with gals and asking for money to pass students. The same sort of response you give above is what I got back from most all of them. In the end, I stood up against this guy alone, and lost because my mates were too cowardly to stand. Now that I live part of the year down there, I am not suprised that people still offer up the same sort of reasoning.

asha 80:

Let me digress a little bit fom the topic, A good eg of these unresolved issues is the issue of indegene/settler dichotomy that led the clashes in jos.This is an unresolved issue in the country as i am not aware of any law that gives indegenship to someone who was born and brougth up in a geographical area other than the place of his parents.However you and i know that is not the case in US and most developed countries.

Reading from your previous posts it seems you where born and brought up in lagos but i do not know if you are yoruba.Now can you conveniently come back to that same lagos and want to become the governor of the state without people telling it to your face that you are not 'shun of the soil' despite the fact u know little or nothing about the state or area your parents come from.I do not even want enter the issue of quota system.

Does fixing the problem’s in Nigeria for the average man hinge on above?

Sometimes i see it funny when people come here to list some solutions to Nigerian problem as if it's so flexible to solve. There is one thing Nigerians are scared and chide away from, which is reality. The solution to Nigerian problem lies in the hands of jst few men who are ready to make wht ever Sacrifies it take to move the country foward. But who is ready to make the sacrifies? NON. We prefer suffering,complaining and smilling.No one want to sacrify we all love our lives yet complaining of wht life offers to us as Nigerians. Jst like wht Bob Marley sang.Even those who seems to fight for the people atlast ended up fighting for their own selfish interest. The leaders on daily bases keeps on achieving their aims, which is chasing and scattering the youths abroad which were supposed to build a strong force within Nigeria against their wicked leadership.wht are we saying?
How on earth do we expect a good educational system when a common local govt. chairman sends all his kids abroad at the expense of every other kids roaming on the street.
Lets keep on wishing and hoping that God will do a Miracle in Nigeria situation, forgeting that God cannot come down on earth to do wht we are supposed to do.That is the reasons he placed us here on earth

princekevo:


Lets keep on wishing and hoping that God will do a Miracle in Nigeria situation, forgeting that God cannot come down on earth to do wht we are supposed to do.That is the reasons he placed us here on earth

spot on dude,a sensible post at last!!whats the point of holding the leaders responsible when indications over the last 20/30 years have shown they dont care what we think one way or another neither will criticisms make them turn over a new leaf?what is the point of even making suggestions if we are not prepared to leave our cushty western country and do something to change the status quo or participate in a programme aimed at tackling the problem?


whats the point of hammering on the same point over and over again when we know what the problem is,whay cant we talk about credible and realistic solutions instead of living in lala land expecting things to miraculously turn around,one funny thing i have noticed with us nigerians is that we will blame everybody for the downturn and suggest solutions but tacitly avoid any personal sacrifices on our part no matter how small, its all very well and good climbing on the soapbox and preaching the overused rhetorics about the solutions to nigeria's problems but its useless when no action follows either collectively or individually as nigerians.

personally these days,im very careful before unilaterally blaming or abusing these politicians or eminent people's children because they are doing more than a lot of us with our righteous indignation and nairaland comments typed out behind a computer in far away america or uk, without lifting a finger to help!
check facebook and see what olisa agbakoba's daughter is doing for charity,selflessly,same for muiz banire the lagos state commissioner's child,one of the okoya boys is also involved in some charity as well e.t.c

Still waiting on you to answer my question there @Asha80

That figure is inaccurate, it's much more than that.

@kobojunkie
Remember i said let me digress a bit as it is not related to the post.You are asking how what i said affects the average man?Using the eg i gave about indegene/settler issues if these issue had been resolved at independence would the average people i jos that where senselessly massacared post election madness gone that way?I just wanted to use this as an eg as their are many others i can give but that would be derailing the thread.

dear forumite this is an issue am passionate about, education in nigeria, the ever increasing standard, the ever depriciating quality and the un realitic education plan we have. we are using very old statistics in this country when it comes to education, for example the issue of education disadvantaged state. in nigeria of today what we have educational areas that is in all states or regions they are areas that are doing well educationally(usually urban area) and areas that have almost non existance primary education structure(usually rural/semi rural). last year i served in ondo state near ekiti border(so i usually travelled across) the education in these to states that were well ahead before is now at a patectic state i thought ss2 students who could not speak english(official lang. for education) and could not copy note i had to copy on the black board for them(forget dictating, only about 5 of my about 280 could take notes dictated). children parents came to beg for me to pass them which i refused, and i saw teachers freshly out of colleges of education that am sure couldn't pass exams that the set. and i got similar reports from my friends that served across the country from imo(where most students were girls), biu where student tried to bribe my pastor friend to pass their test (lol) and bayelsa where they were paid to come to school and did come(but they collected money). when my mum asked me what i learnt from service(i did want to teach, but my mum told me just to endure for one year and sge paid me for natioanal service, because she really believe in this nigerian dream) i told her i discovered is a highly illiterate society heading for great social upheavel.

Finally, a lovely topic that evokes my interest.

I would love to comment on the fact that UNESCO has taken time out to point this fact out to our leaders and others in influential positions. What then, is their role (UNESCO) in encouraging our government to make sure that policies are enacted that favour the return of these children to schools - or are they just to sit on the side and sound the alarm now and again?

That said, i also shudder to think about the standards that even those who ARE in schools are subjected to. Learning under trees, in adverse climatic conditions, with no access to books, toys and training materials, musical instruments and even computers and electronic gadjets. These are the basic things that build up children and their thinking faculties etc. When these are not available, you find out that the future of our children is not as bright as those of the western ones (or those of our thieving leaders), who have all these facilities and more at their disposal. Why would we not continue to see child prodigies in the areas of music, computer programming, sciences and technology from the western children?


There needs to be a complete overhaul of the educational sector, as it is not just the primary or secondary schools that have this problem - that said, there needs to be a complete overhaul of the medical, transportation, banking, infrastructure, security, etc. Since all these sectors are inter-related, there is no way you can try to develop one, without the other.

I am sorry, but we may have to continue bearing this shame that has come upon us and our nation.

We are in 2009 , but do you wonder how the money allocated to the federal ministry of Education in 2008 was spent? I seriously urge you to take a look. I found the line budgeting Naira 12 million to procurement of 50 Laptops particularly interesting, yet right beneath that only Naira 10 million put aside for procurement of computer building infrastructure. Do Take a look for yourselves


2008 Bugdet Allocation Breakdown for the Ministry of Education

2008 Bugdet Allocation Breakdown for the Ministry of Education

Ministry of Education Total Allocations in 2008 , 032 TOTAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Naira 220,974,830,792


Ministry of Education Total Allocations for 2009 , TOTAL: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Naira 216,639,437,111

http://www.fmf.gov.ng/Budget2009Info/2009BudgetEdu.pdf

I'm not sure if this is related but are you guys aware that Nigerian pupils received laptops as US aids but instead they used them in browsing porn?


Read this : http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL19666470
http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/nigeria/pornographic_image_child.html

I think whoever wrote that article was trying to be mischevious. 

Okay, so a bunch of school age kids are using laptops to browse porn. Yes, we can argue that it's inappropriate content for them as children. But kids are kids are kids all over the world. If you give laptops to kids in US, UK, Singapore, Kenya, China, wherever, I guarantee you the kids will try to see what they can get away with doing on those laptops, and porn could very well be one of those things they'll try to sneak in.

In no way is the lack of provision of critical educational tools for the children justified just because ooooohhhh, they might watch porn!!

I feel like that article was trying to insinuate that somehow the kids in Nigeria should be put in a certain light because they were browsing porn, simply because the laptops are donated

If it's wrong for poor Nigerian kids  to use donated laptops to watch porn, it's also wrong for a billionaire's kid in Dubai who got the laptop as a gift to watch porn.

The only part that made sense in that article is the quoted below:

A representative of the One Laptop Per Child aid group was quoted as saying that the computers, part of a pilot scheme, would now be fitted with filters.

Seems like some genius should have thought about that, before, eh? 

Lol @B.O.S.S

That is the OLpC Laptop, those things go for about $150 to $300. I read that report over a year ago and it is pity that happened. I do not get however how a ministry budgets over 12, million for just 50 laptops. And I sure will not accept that the money was spent on OLPC Laptops either. Concerning the Education system, I still wait for when the ministry will figure out that it is time to put money aside to rebuild at least half of the public primary/secondary schools in that country. Basically bring them all up to world standards.

I still wait to see a leader in that country willing to take on the education system. That happens to be the only way I see us improving that nation. Improve Eduation at all levels and you empower the people and a whole nation. The minute the education problem is tackled, we will see huge change in both the response from people and leadership.

@Poster
Iro nla

I'm not sure if this is related but are you guys aware that Nigerian pupils received laptops as US aids but instead they used them in browsing porn?

Lol, Nigerian men start on time to train for their sexual career. That's why foreign women complain about them all the time.

earTHMama:

Lol, Nigerian men start on time to train for their sexual career. That's why foreign women complain about them all the time.

Even earTHMama has to dodge that with a wry smile.

@ KoboJunkie
The minute Nigeria creates anything worldclass in that country to benefit the country (especially in the educational sector), that day I'll throw a party.