IN a recent briefing by the Chairman, Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Victor Olabimtan, he made a sterling revelation that no fewer than 240,000 children were out of school in the State. He, however, noted that the state government was making efforts to stop the menace. “From the statistics, Ondo has 240,000 out-of-school children. This is alarming. But it is not happening only in Ondo State, that is how the problem is in other states of the federation.”

THIS revelation has sent shock waves across the education sector and raised urgent questions about the future of basic education in the state. While Olabimtan highlighted infrastructural gaps, devalued education, poverty, economic downturn, yahoo yahoo syndrome, school vandalism, immigration from the North among others as some of the factors responsible for the alarming numbers of-out-of-school children in the state, stakeholders are calling on the government to as a matter of urgency address the disturbing development.

EDUCATION  is the basic building block of every society. It is the single best investment countries can make to build prosperous, healthy, and equitable societies. Access to quality education has been adopted as a fundamental human right and is the Sustainable Development Goal Number Four. Since children are the future of a nation; the economic and social development of a nation depends on how it educates its children and makes their  future ready.

THE  Right to Education is clearly enshrined in chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Although, regarded as non-justifiable, it has been given effect and made justifiable by other domestic laws such as the Universal Basic Education Act, 2004. The Act provides for compulsory, free universal basic education for all children of school age in the country. Hence, It is an offence for a parent not to enroll his/her ward in school, as such a parent is liable to be reprimanded on the first offence or risk a jail term on subsequent convictions. A child denied the right to basic education has been subjected to discrimination of a life time.

GOING by the Ondo State SUBEB Chairman’s assurance of changing the narrative, The Hope believes that the time to address the challenges is now because no excuse is tenable for any child not to acquire the basic education which is considered to be a leveller between the rich and the poor. We therefore call on the State government to demonstrate commitment at nipping this ugly trend in the bud.

FOR  a fact, the menace of out-of-school children impedes the future of any State with the potential of worsening the scale of multi-dimensional poverty. To this end, The Hope appeals to the State government to muster the political will by increasing the budgetary allocation to education in order to make learning attractive, expand access to education through construction of more schools especially in the remote areas to discourage pupils trekking long distance to schools. There should be a renewed emphasis on free, compulsory primary and secondary education, and teachers should be trained, motivated and recruited in adequate numbers and schools should be well-funded and equipped.

WE equally urge government to discourage the use of underage as domestic servants and prohibit the idea of using school premises for social events. Parents and students should be continuously sensitized on the importance of education. School alumnus should also engage in socializing the students as a way of encouraging them. Communities should be engaged in conversations for better enlightenment about the importance of education  to help change cultural beliefs that hinder enrollment, particularly for girls. The safety and security of schools must be prioritized by deploying adequate security personnel and implementing strategies to deter attacks.

WITH the backing of the State government, all the 18 Local Government areas in the State should implement measures to educate all children through well-planned mass education programmes to create a knowledge-driven society and economy. Besides, officers of the Ministry of Education in the State assigned to monitor education should be alive to their duties by arresting any child found outside during the school hours. According to the UN, those deprived of schooling at an early age are vulnerable to unemployment, poverty, early marriage, and pregnancy.

ALTHOUGH, Nigeria domesticated the UN Convention on the Right of the Child, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of a child but the law is not enforced. We appeal to the State government to do everything it can at curbing this menace in order to return Ondo State back to those glorious years when it was referenced to as a template for prioritising quality education in the country.