Conflicting FG, UNESCO reports on out-of-school children

Between the federal government and UNESCO, it’s not clear whose report on the current number of out-of-school children one should believe as both claim theirs is authentic; ELEOJO IDACHABA writes.

In the last few weeks, there have been conflicting official reports about the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. While the Nigerian government claims that it has reduced the number from 10 million in 2019 to between 6.9 and 7 million in 2020, the United Nations Education and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) in its latest report disclosed that at the present, over 20 million children are out of school in Nigeria for different reasons.

This, no doubt, has prompted reactions from various angles, but placing available statistics side by side, it appears the UNESCO report seems plausible in view of recent developments, especially the latest phobia regarding schools by parents in places like Niger, Katsina, Zamfara and parts of Kaduna states. In those places, the fear of kidnapping of female school children has, in borrowing the Biblical phrase, become the beginning of wisdom.

As a result of this, the development has compelled a lot of sit-at-home among those who should ordinarily be in schools. Also, the compulsory sit-at-home order in parts of the South-eastern axis of the country extending to states like Akwa Ibom has equally contributed to the growing number of children out of school in Nigeria.

UNESCO, while making its report public recently, indicated that Nigeria now has 20.2 million out-of-school children, a figure that is three times what the government claimed as the out-of-school children as of May 2020.

It is however not clear if the claim by the Nigerian government is correct, but available data shows that 244 million children and youths between the ages of six and 18 worldwide are out of school. From this figure, over 20 million of them are in Nigeria at the moment.

UNESCO in that report noted that, “Important data gaps have been filled in countries that have large out-of-school numbers but where no administrative data of good quality has been available for over a decade such as Nigeria which has an estimated 20.2 million children and youth out of school.”

The development poses a lot of concern for the global body judging its negative implication on achieving the much talked-about Sustainable Development Goals on quality education for all by 2030.

Faulting UNESCO’s report

As usual, while faulting UNESCO’s report, the federal government speaking through the director of press in the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Ben Goong, told Nigerians to disregard the UNESCO report, saying it does not reflect the true state of affairs in the country.

According to him, the federal government has a reliable template through which it determines whether the number of those in school and out of school increase or decline as against the UNESCO template.

“We use a reliable template with the National Population Commission to calculate this in order to arrive at a reliable and acceptable figure. What we do is that we harvest the birth rate from NPC which has a figure of numbers of children born in Nigeria every year. We also do our routine school census which tells us how many are in school.

“When we minus the figure from the birth rate and the number of children that are in school using the outcome of our school census, then we arrive at a particular figure which can assume that are not in school. We have all this information and we conduct a school census, then return to the NPC and work on this template.

“So, where UNESCO got its figures and methods used to collate such data and arrived at over 20 million out-of-school children is what I don’t know and can’t explain. So, we absolutely reject the figure as it relates to the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria that was released by the global body.”

The Kaduna example

Whether or not the government is right and UNESCO is wrong is a matter for inquest. For instance, when schools that were closed in Kaduna state over insecurity were asked by the state government to resume for the current academic session in September, many parents declined.

According to the report, students of primary and secondary schools in the state declined to return to school over fear of bandits. This was in reaction to the state government’s directive to September 4 that all schools across the state should resume.

Although the state government had assured students of their safety, many parents, learning from history, were afraid of allowing their children to go back to school; more so as there are no concrete arrangements for their safety despite the government’s assurances.

Some weeks later, according to this writer’s investigation, a number of the students remained at home for fear of insecurity, especially in many communities in the Southern part of the state.

UNICEF’s concerns

Also, commenting on this, the UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, while speaking recently in Jalingo, the Taraba state capital, in the wake of the low attitude to school resumption in September noted that the unabated security situation in the country was bedeviling the hopes of almost a million students who were willing to return to school.

He said, “It is unacceptable that communities should be worried to send their children to school over fears they will be abducted from what should be a safe space.

“Sad that parents are now afraid that if they send their children to school. This insecurity situation must end so that children can return to their normal lives and benefit from all the important things being in school brings to them. It is unacceptable that children need to fear returning to their friends and classrooms.

“So far this year, there have been 20 attacks on schools in Nigeria with 1,436 children abducted and 16 children dead. More than 200 children are still missing.”

On whether or not there is any disparity between the government report and that of UNICEF, the head teacher of Prime Time Academy in Lugbe, Abuja, Madam Susan Adegbe, told Blueprint Weekend that there was no need for any conflicting reports about the number of out-of-school children because the facts were obvious.

She said, “Everyone knows that insecurity in various parts of the country has largely sent jitters in the minds of parents and students/pupils. I’m aware that even in some remote communities in Abaji Area Council which are within the Federal Capital Territory where bandits had threatened residents, a good number of school pupils are yet to return to classes because of the fear of being kidnapped.

“Except the government wants to be economical with the truth, otherwise the report by UNICEF and UNESCO is nothing but the truth. It was public knowledge when in July this year; bandits wrote letters to several schools in the territory, especially those around the outskirts of the territory. Most parents in those places are yet to see any serious security measures put in place to secure their children, that is why even up till now, some of the pupils would not resume.”

According to a researcher on female education in Nigeria, Dr. Rosemary Okolie of the University of Ibadan, a lot of damage has been done to the psyche of students, especially the females, such that they need serious reorientation about education.

“Lately, what Boko Haram has done to young girls, especially in the northern part of the country, is beyond psychological repair. It would take a number of years to get many young ladies from that part of the country to still appreciate the importance of education, not when they are aware that some of their age mates who declared for education are currently house wives to some war lords in the forest and remote villages in Nigeria and nearby countries,” she said.

As the argument goes on, it is believed that both the government and UNESCO are correct in their respective assessments of the out-of-school children.