A coalition of over 100 civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria has reiterated the call for indigent children, especially girls, across the country to have access to free, quality, safe and compulsory education for 12 years.
The development partners, with support from Malala Fund, restated the call during the annual FlexiSAF Foundation ‘WalkForEducation’ march in Abuja to mark the 2022 Human Rights Day.
Development Diaries reports that FlexiSAF Foundation organises ‘WalkforEducation’ every year to mark Human Rights Day.
It is a fitness and advocacy walk that keys into the United Nations Human Rights (UNHR) generic call to action – ‘Stand Up for Human Rights’.
SDG Four: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Education and human rights
Adopted as a human right by the United Nations, basic education is the bedrock of formal learning that ‘transforms lives, eradicates poverty and drives sustainable development’.
However, Africa’s most populous nation still accounts for the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, as issues of access, funding and safety continue to hamper quality education delivery in the country.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reported this year that about 18.5 million children, the majority of whom are girls, do not have access to education in Nigeria.
Figures from the UN agency also show that over 60 percent of these children are in the country’s northern region.
Another UN agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), announced in 2022 that the country has about 20 million out-of-school children.
As for the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), an intervening agency of the Nigerian government, the number of out-of-school children between the ages of six and 11 in the country is 10.1 million based on its 2018 National Personnel Audit (NPA) report.
Failed promises
President Muhammadu Buhari, in his 2022 Children’s Day message, promised that his government would ensure wider access to quality education that would further reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. However, the aforementioned figures from UNESCO and UNICEF show a worsening situation.
The president also promised at the 2021 Global Education Summit in London that his administration would raise the budget for education by 50 percent in the next two years, adding that Nigeria will attain 100 percent budgetary increase by 2025.
His words, ‘I would also like to reiterate the commitment of the government of Nigeria to ensure that total education spending increase by 50 percent over the next two years and up to 100 percent within the next five years [2021–2025]’.
‘We also undertake to work with, and ensure that every state in our federation progress towards or maintain spending levels above 20 percent of their total budget to achieve national minimum standards for education outcomes’.
However, his administration recently allocated just ten percent of the total budget for 2023 to education.
The coalition of CSOs is therefore calling on the Nigerian authorities to amend the legislation to guarantee 12 years of uninterrupted education for Nigerian children; develop a roadmap to achieve Nigeria’s commitment to spend four percent GDP and 22.5 percent of the national budget on education by 2025; and ensure access to quality alternative education in a safe environment.
‘Investing in 12 years of education for all could unlock $243 billion for Nigeria’, a placard at the walk reads.
More pictures from the walk are below.
