Neglecting out-of-school kids will create future bandits, lawmaker tells politicians

Julius Ihonvbere, chairman, house of representatives committee on basic education and services, says political leaders should take the issue of out-of-school children (OOSC) seriously to avoid creating future criminals.

According to NAN, Ihonvbere said this on Monday at a national conference themed ‘Rethinking the Approaches to Addressing the Out-of-school Children Phenomenon in Nigeria’, held in Abuja.

TheCable had reported that recent data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) showed that Nigeria has over 20 million out-of-school children and youths.

Meanwhile, according to UNICEF, within two years until April 2022, a total of 1.3 million children had suffered the impact of insecurity on their education.

But President Muhammadu Buhari had said, in May 2022, that the investment made by his government in education has laid a substantial foundation for younger generations, adding that he is committed to reducing the number of out-of-school children in the country.

Speaking at the event on Monday, the lawmaker said presidential aspirants must present their plan to tackle the issue of out-of-school children.

“Our political leaders must take this issue as a priority. Also, all presidential candidates must tell us what they will do about OOSC. This way, they will focus on how to tackle it,” he said.

“If we neglect this aspect, then we will be creating a future army of bandits, kidnappers in the country.”

While commenting on the impact of out-of-school children on the education sector, Adamu Adamu, minister of education, represented by Folake Olatinji-Davids, director of basic education, said the federal government remains committed to addressing the situation.

The minister said the government has strengthened the review of the Universal Basic Education (UBEC) mandate to enable all children of school age receive quality education.

“The federal government has made significant investments in the sector and provided quality education in response to our developmental needs,” he said.

“The ministry has taken steps to strengthen inter-agency programmes that target the OOS phenomenon. We plan for the open school programme that will help OOSC to access learning opportunities.

“There is, therefore, the need for all and sundry to show commitment toward the success of addressing the phenomenon for better outcomes.”