Why out-of-school children figure rose by 8 million in 1yr – Nomadic Education

From:Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE), has linked the increase in the figure of out-of-school children from 10.5 million in 2021 to 18.5 million in 2022 to the banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, and early marriage in the northwestern part of the country.

The Commission’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Bashir Usman who stated this in Kaduna on Thursday also said that the alarming rate of the out of school children may worsen the security situation in the region and the country at large if not checked.

Speaking at a Capacity Building Training for members of School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) and Mothers Association (MA) from northwestern states on combating the menace of out-of-school children, Prof. Usman, noted that, 3.5 million of the 18.5 million children, are from the nomadic background.

Represented at the event by the Commission’s Director of Quality Assurance, Mr. Akin Akinyosoye, the ES said, the issue of out-of-school children has been one of the major challenges in the implementation of the Nomadic Education Programme (NEP) in Nigeria.

According to him, “in this year 2022, UNICEF reported that Nigeria has 18.5 Million children that are out of school. This figure is quite high when compared with 2021 estimates that were put at 10.5 Million which puts Africa’s most populous country’s out-of-school children to be on an emergency frequency. Alarmingly, UNICEF posits that 60

percent of the 18.5 Million O0SC in Nigeria are girls.

“This could be worse in the North-West Zone comprising of Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, and the Kebbi States which were adversely affected by kidnapping, banditry, insurgency, early marriage, hence the increased number of Out Of School Children in the Zone. The prevalence of out-of-school children could exacerbate the worsening security situation in the Zone.

“Similarly, it has been estimated that out of the 18.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, 3.5 Million Children are from a Nomadic background.

“However, the issue of out-of-school children has been one of the major challenges in the implementation of the Nomadic Education Programme (NEP) in Nigeria. While the Commission has adopted various strategies to ensure that this population of Nomadic children return to schools. part of this effort is to build the capacity of members of School-Based Management Committees (SBMC) and Mothers Associations (MA) to serve as foot soldiers in boosting the effort of the Commission towards reducing the number of Out-Of-School Children (00SC) in their communities. This effort is also aimed at educating them on their roles and responsibilities in ensuring effective and efficient management of nomadic schools.”