Out of School Children in Nigeria: Causes, Social Implications and Way Forward
Abstract
This paper examined the concept of out-of-school children in Nigeria, the factors responsible for out-of-school children, the social implications of out-of-school children and suggested way forward. Secondary data were used in the paper. The data were sourced from print and online publications. The paper identified causes of out-of-school children in Nigeria to include; poor funding of education, corruption, poor implementation of the Child Rights Act, insecurity problems, lack of political will to address the problems, high rate of poverty, and high fertility rate. The paper also concluded that the social implications of out-of-school children include security challenges, shortage of skilled manpower in future, bad international image, high levels of illiteracy and high socio-economic and dependency issues. The paper recommended among other things that the federal, state and local governments should come up with programmes to address the problem of out-of-school children in Nigeria. Also, adequate funding should be allocated to the education sector at all levels of government.
References
2. Adegboyega, A (2019, May 15) More than half of Nigeria education budget lost to corruption. PremiunTime. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/330104-more-than-half-of-nigerias-education-budget-lost-to-corruption-transparency-international.html
3. Ahmed-Gusau (2022, august 8) Five sates yet to domesticate-child right act in Nigeria. Tribune https://tribuneonlineng.com/five-states-yet-to-domesticate-child-rights-act-in-nigeria-%E2%80%95-unicef/
4. Ajala, O.P (2012) School Dropout Pattern among Senior Secondary Schools in Delta State, Nigeria. International Education Studies, 5, (2), 145-153
5. Akpan, C. P. (2000). Effective planning: A pre-requisite for successful implementation of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme. International Journal of Research in Basic and Life-Long Education, 1 (182), 103-109
6. Ayoko, V.O (2022) Understanding the ‘falling-out’ factors that contribute to school dropout and the ways forward: Analysis of government failures, cultural believes, disasters, pandemic and forced migration. Proceedings of international conference on modern education studies, konya-Turkey, 46-56
7. Birdi, K., Allan, C., & Warr, P. (1997) Correlates and perceived outcomes of four types of employee development activity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 845-857.
8. Blueprint (2021) 2022 budget proposal: Whither UBEC, education sector? https://www.blueprint.ng/2022-budget-proposal-whither-ubec-education-sector/
9. Charity, N. O, Emenike, J. A. Doma, A, & Akinsola, M, O (2020) Out of School Children: Enhancing Factors and Consequences for Sustainable Development in North Central Geo-Political Zone, Nigeria. American Journal of Educational Research, 8, (10), 804-811
10. Deji, E (2022, August 19) FG: Some Northern States Mismanaging Primary Education. Thisday. https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/08/19/fg-some-northern-states-mismanaging-primary-education/
11. Hotz J, McElroy, S. W & Sanders, S. G. (2005) Teenage childbearing and its life cycle consequences: Exploiting a natural experiment, Journal of Human Resources, 40, 683- 715.
12. Mojeed, A (2022, September 1) Nigeria now has 20 million out-of-school children – UNESCO. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/551804-breaking-nigeria-now-has-20-million- out-of-school-children-unesco.html
13. Ndanusa, M, N, Abayomi, Q. K & Harada, Y (2021) Examining the fragments and causes of increasing out-of-school children in Nigeria. Journal of Africa studies and Development, 13, (4), 66-73
14. NEEDS (2014) Needs assessment in the Nigerian education sector. International organization for migration, Abuja, Nigeria.
15. Nguyen, M. C. & Wodon, Q. (2014) Impact of child marriage on literacy and education attainment in Africa. http://allinschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/OOSC- 2014-QW-Child-Marriage-final.pdf
16. NOUN (2012) Implementation of educational policy plans. Lagos, Nigeria
17. Ogunode, N.J. & Ahaotu, G.N (2021) Effects of Incessant closure of schools on school administration in Northern Nigeria. International Journal of Innovative Analyses and Emerging Technology, 1, (4), 98-103
18. Ogunode, N.J. Ahaotu G.N. & Obi-E.U. (2021) Effects of insecurity on school administration in Nigeria. Middle European Scientific Bulletin, 13, 94-102.
19. Ogunode, N.J, Jegede, D. & Ajape T.S. (2021) Educational policies of primary school education in Nigeria: Challenges Preventing the implementation and the Ways Forward. Central Asian Journal of Social Sciences and History, 2, (3), 14-26.
20. Ogunode N, J, Josiah, H. F & Ajape T, S (2021) Effects 0f Corruption on Public Universities Administration in Nigeria. Journal of Educational Discoveries and Lifelong Learning, 2, (7), 5-18
21. Ojelade, I.A., Aiyedun, T.G. & Aregebesola, B.G. (2019) Environmental Education as an Instrument for awareness creation on the health effects of water contamination in Saburi Community of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria. The Researcher: A Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 2, (1), 1- 16.
22. Ololube, N. P. (2016) Education fund misappropriation and mismanagement and the provision of quality higher education in Nigeria. International Journal of Scientific Research in Education, 9, (4), 333-349.
23. Omoeva, C., Hatch, R., & Sylla, B. (2004)Teenage, married, and out of school. Effects of early marriage and childbirth on school dropout. Available Punch (2022, March, 20) UBEC and states’ neglect of basic education
24. Raliyat, H. Umma, A. & Aisha, A. (2022) As Out-Of-School Children Scourge Worsens: Nigeria Risks Losing out on Literate, Skilled Workforce. Leadership https://leadership.ng/as-out-of-school-children-scourge-worsens-nigeria-risks-losing-out-on-literate-skilled-workforce/
25. Sabiu, M (2021, August 15) Education in Disarray: More Than 10,000 Schools in the North Closed, 400,000 Students Affected. Nigerian Tribune. https://tribuneonlineng.com/education-in-disarray-more-than-10000-schools-in-the-north-closed-400000-students-affected/
26. Shehu, H. K. (2018) Factors Influencing Primary School Non-attendance among Children in North-West Nigeria. Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal (LICEJ), 9, (2), 2916-2922.
27. Smits, J. & Huisman, J. (2013) Determinants of Educational Participation and Gender Differences in Education in Six Arab Countries. Acta Sociologica, 56, (4), 325-346
28. Utomi (2021) Tackling Nigeria’s out-of-school children menace. https://punchng.com/tackling nigerias-out-of-school-children-menace/
29. Vanguard (2020, March 3) States unclaimed UBE funds. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/03/states-unclaimed-ube-funds/
30. Vayachuta, P, Ratana-Ubol, A. & Soopanyo, W. ( ) The study of ‘out-of-school’ children and youth situations for developing a lifelong education model for ‘out-of-school’ children
31. World Bank (2022) “Nigeria Development Update (June 2022): The Continuing Urgency of Business Unusual”. Washington, DC: World Bank
In submitting the manuscript to the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE), the authors certify that:
- They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
- That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- The publication has been approved by the author(s) and by responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
- They agree to the following license and copyright agreement.
License and Copyright Agreement
Authors who publish with International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or edit it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.