The House of Representatives has asked all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to put the Universal Basic Education Commission Act of 2004 and the Child’s Rights Act of 2003 into effect.
The House particularly urged the Minister of the FCT, Mohammed Bello, to “ensure full compliance with the provisions of the UBEC Act and the Child’s Rights Act in the Federal Capital Territory,” while urging UBEC to liaise with state governments who have adopted the Child’s Rights Act and the UBEC Act “for enforcement of the provisions of the laws.”
This was based on the motion moved by a member of the House, Bamidele Salam, at the plenary on Thursday, which 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.’
Moving the motion, Salam made reference to a report by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2021 which stated that an estimated number of out-of-school children in Nigeria was about 10.1 million, while the United Nations Children’s Fund put the number at 13.2 million.
The lawmaker said the figure “appears to be on the increase” as the Ministry of Education had stated that there had been a more than 3 million increase 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 the highest in the world,” he stated.
While citing the provisions of Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution, Salam stated that Section 15 of the Child’s Rights Act provides that every child has the right to free, compulsory and universal basic education “and it shall be the duty of the government in Nigeria to provide such education.”
The lawmaker also noted that Section 15 of the Child’s Rights Act 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.
According to him, 27 out of the 36 states in Nigeria have adopted and domesticated the Child’s Rights 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 his primary and junior secondary school education.
The lawmaker stressed that Section 2(3) of the Act compels stakeholders in education in a Local Government Area to enforce the provisions of Section 2, thus ensuring that every parent or person who has the care and custody of a child sends such child for his primary and junior secondary school education.