Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Policy House International chides Nigeria over low investment in children

By Joke Falaju, Abuja
29 May 2021   |   1:13 pm
Policy House International has chided the government over low investment in the Nigerian child, lamenting that despite a recommendation by UNESCO to allocate 26 per cent of the national budget to education, a paltry 5 percent is allocated to the sector out of which 1.5percent is provided to basic education at the state level. The…

Policy House International has chided the government over low investment in the Nigerian child, lamenting that despite a recommendation by UNESCO to allocate 26 per cent of the national budget to education, a paltry 5 percent is allocated to the sector out of which 1.5percent is provided to basic education at the state level.

The international organisation stressed the need for the government to reflect on the quality of education being given to Nigerian children as well as evaluate the impact of the school feeding programme on the targeted population.

The Country Director Policy House International Taiwo Akerele emphasised the need for the government to take a critical look at the fate of the Nigerian children, their education, the security of the learning environment, nutrition, global child rights, freedom of learning as well as knowledge acquisition.

Expressing concern over the implementation of the Child right law across the states of the federation, he called on stakeholders to reflect on the key policies that have a direct bearing on learning, literacy development and right of the child

Akerele wondered what quality of children are we grooming in Africa’s biggest economy by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and by population saying the international Children Day “affords us the opportunity to look at our national basic education curriculum, “what does it reflect for us as a nation? Does our curriculum prepare our children for a digital economy? An artificial intelligence economy, an economy that is ready for production, agri-business and manufacturing or a lazy and unproductive economy full of theory and empty in practical?”

He pointed with covid-19 forcing millions of children to learn from home, there is a need for concerted efforts to ensure that families are catered for by the governments in the area of job creation, shelter, adequate feeding which has resultant effect in creating a conducive learning environment for the children,

Akerele who is also the FCT Chapter Chairman, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) noted that with the worsening security situation in the country, the Policy House international had projected that the estimated 10.5million out of school may increase to 10.5million by the end of 2021 if the security challenges in parts of the north are not addressed and the closures of schools continue unabated

He said, “As Nigeria joins millions of children all over the world to celebrate this day, for us in Nigeria, we must reflect on the basket of issues both as government and stakeholders in the educational ecosystem and get our acts together to make life more bearable for our kids, the leaders of tomorrow.”

In this article

0 Comments