The subject of declining quality at all levels is a frequently debated topic among stakeholders in education and the general public in Nigeria today.
In 2018, drawing conclusion from available information, a new World Bank Report warns of a learning crisis in Nigeria and other developing countries, which are facing moral and economic problems as a result of primary and secondary schools failing to equip students with the necessary education to succeed in life.
The Universal Basic Education (UBE) was established in 1999 to ensure acquisition of the appropriate levels of literacy, life skills, as well as ethical values. Despite its existence, moral and civic values needed to lay the foundation for lifelong learning for children have continued to be a mirage.
The major concern of the Federal Government and other stakeholders in the education sector was how to ensure that the more than 10.5 million out-of-school children are enrolled in schools.
However, the World Bank report has shown that the actualisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, especially Goal 4, is being threatened by the learning crisis. Experts had also warned that this development pose serious threat to the country and that it would require concerted efforts from all stakeholders to surmount.
In this context, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) organised a two-day media dialogue on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Kano, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture’s Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB), with a focus on ‘Foundational Literacy and Numeracy,’ where experts x-rayed some of the underlying issues affecting basic education.
UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office, Kano, Rahama Mohammed Farah, while speaking at the event, reiterated that Nigeria is faced with a learning crisis, whereby adequate learning is not taking place in schools.
Farah, who was represented by Elhadji Issakha Diop, Officer-in-Charge (OIC), UNICEF Field Office Kano, cited the World Bank as stating that Nigeria is facing learning poverty, with 70 per cent of 10-year-old learners unable to understand a simple sentence or execute basic arithmetic tasks.
“When it comes to children’s rights, education is one of them. Education is a vital human right and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child outlines it clearly.
“It is clear that to improve learning outcomes in Nigeria, achieving basic foundational skills at that level of learning cannot be overemphasised,” he said.
Speaking on the importance of the child rights, UNICEF Communication Specialist, Geoffrey Njoku, said there was no way the SDGs could be achieved by 2030 without focusing on children’s rights.
The Federal Government also affirmed this as clearly stated in the ‘Education for Change: A Ministerial Strategic Plan (2018-2022),’ that inadequate funding, poor quality of teachers, who in