The House of Representatives has urged the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory to implement the provisions of the Universal Basic Education Commission Act, 2004 and the Child’s Right Act, 2003.
The House urged the Minister of the FCT, Mohammed Bello, to ensure full compliance with the provisions of the UBEC Act and the Child’s Right Act in the territory, while urging the UBEC to liaise with state governments, which had adopted the Child’s Right and the UBEC Acts for the enforcement of the laws.
The motion, which was moved by a member of the House, Bamidele Salam, at the plenary on Thursday, was titled, ‘Need to reinforce the provisions of the compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act, 2004 in the Federal Capital Territory and other parts of the country’.
Salam made reference to a report by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2021, which stated that the estimated number of out-of-school children in Nigeria was 10.1 million, while the United Nations Children’s Fund put the number at 13.2 million.
The lawmaker said the figure appeared to be on the increase as the ministry had stated that there had been an increase of more than three million in the figure from 2020.
“The House is worried about the report from UNICEF that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa and in the world,” he stated.
While citing Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution, Salam stated that Section 15 of the Child’s Right Act provided that every child had the right to free, compulsory and universal basic education, and it shall be the duty of the government in Nigeria to provide such education.
According to him, the section provides that every parent or guardian shall ensure that his or her child or ward attends and completes primary and junior secondary school education, while any parent who fails in this duty commits a punishable offence.
He noted that 27 out of the 36 states in Nigeria had adopted and domesticated the Child’s Right Act.
Salam also cited Section 2 of the UBEC Act, which provides that every government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary, and that every parent shall ensure that his or her child or ward attends and completes primary and junior secondary school education.
The lawmaker stressed that Section 2(3) of the Act compelled stakeholders in education in a Local Government Area to enforce the provisions of the section, thus ensuring that every parent or person who had the care and custody of a child sent such child for primary and junior secondary school education.
Salam stated, “The House is concerned that the provisions of the UBEC Act and Child’s Rights Act are not being implemented, considering the statistics of the out-of-school children in Nigeria and the presence of children on the streets hawking, begging and undertaking all other activities during school hours in the Federal Capital Territory.
“The House is also concerned that the neglect of children puts their future and the future of Nigeria in jeopardy, as they are exposed to getting recruited into kidnapping and robbery gangs, drugs and other crimes.
“The House is worried that the number of out-of-school children in the country is on a rapid increase and no arrest of defaulting parents or guardians are being made.”
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