Achieving ‘Quality Education’ in the Child’s Rights, SDGs

The Child’s Rights Act and the African Children’s Charter define a child as a person below 18 years of age. Nigeria adopted the Child’s Rights Act in 2003, giving a nod to both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The Act (Child’s Rights Act, 2003) contains a number of rights for children. Among them is free and compulsory basic education. On the other hand, the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that all the UN Member States agreed to achieve by the year 2030 were envisioned for a world free from poverty, hunger, and disease, with a special focus on women, children, and disadvantaged populations.

However, in terms of children’s rights, the fourth goal of the SDGs, quality education, is the focal point right now. According to UN data, 53% of 10-year-olds in low and middle-income countries are unable to read and understand a simple sentence or perform basic numeracy tasks. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 87 percent of children are “in learning poverty” as they do not have basic literacy by age 10. In Nigeria, the record is horrifying. The country has some of the worst results in the world, with 70% of children failing to learn basic foundational skills.

Though religion, along with ethnic and cultural diversity, is the most significant impediment to child education in Nigeria (Child’s Rights Act, 2003), there are other forces at work, such as an inadequate and under-prepared workforce, with a record revealing that 27% of teaching staff are unqualified. In addition, there aren’t enough physical resources, with a high classroom learner ratio of 1:55 in primary schools and low school readiness, as no less than 10 million children aged 3 to 5 are not enrolled in early childhood care and education (ECCE). This means that only 30.7% of these children are enrolled in ECCE.

Breaking these down, ensuring that teachers in basic education are qualified and undergo the requisite training is compelling. Teaching qualifications should go beyond holding certificates to expertise and retraining. A teacher must have teaching skills and not just a job as an accident. In fact, quality learning in basic education is as essential as in high school on the basis that pupils that receive quality basic education will flow into high schools with less difficulty. While underlining the calamity, Dr. Geoffrey Njoku, while pointing out that the majority of children enrolled in schools are as deficient as those not in school. This is terrible.

The second is the absence of preparatory classes preceding primary education in public schools. This oversight has contributed greatly to the poor education in Nigeria. It is no surprise that society is currently in disarray with ritual killings, banditry, abductions, and other vices. These are the effects of oversights over the years. A preparatory class for the development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical needs in order to build a solid and broad foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing prior to primary school is essential. UNICEF Education Specialist, Manar Ahmed Sharouda, hit the hammer on his head during a workshop on “SDGs as Child Rights” (Child’s Rights Act, 2003) and said that “one must first learn to read, in order to read to learn.”

The third is excessive homework beyond the mental capacity of a child. The 31st clause in the UNCRC is the right to leisure, recreation, and cultural activities. Thus, ensuring that children are not overloaded with homework can enhance their learning progression, as experts maintain. More worrisome are some homework problems that rationally can’t be solved by children. From an investigation, it appears that the disproportionate workloads on students are caused by schools’ competing for superiority in contests. Making all schools under basic education run the same curriculum could change the story.

Commendably, UNICEF, for the record, is already supporting the federal government to improve foundational literacy and numeracy through tailor-made, teaching-learning practices such as Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) and Reading and Numeracy Activities (RANA). Nonetheless, a lot still needs to be done. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says that every child has a right to education (Child’s Rights Act, 2003), but it also says that the goal is to help the child grow to his or her fullest potential and teach him or her about human rights and basic freedoms.

Concurringly, Dr. Anthony Chidiebere Ezinwa of the Department of Mass Communication at Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, emphasized that “children are not just objects that belong to their parents and for whom decisions are made, or adults in training.” Rather, they are human beings and individuals with their own rights. “

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Listening to the ordeals endured by a 14-year-old girl in the name of marriage, custom, and religion on television recently was poignant. At the age of 12, Aishatu was forcefully married to a 59-year-old man as the fourth wife, and she became pregnant two years later. During labor, she had serious complications. Her adolescent body was torn, leading to other issues. While undergoing the hell experience at such a tender age, the husband heartlessly drove her away due to the offensive odor from her damaged body. Her parents enslaved and isolated her in her misery.

Fortunately, an NGO intervened and facilitated her recovery. The parents, while giving their accounts, argued that their actions were “in the best interest of the girl” and in sync with their religion, albeit they regretted their actions and reunited with their broken daughter after 5 years. This damage was avoidable had the parents received quality education prior to parenthood, considering that adults don’t fall from the sky, but grown children do. When children aren’t taught, they grow up believing things that aren’t true, which can be very dangerous for society.

No doubt, Part one of the UNCRC demands that “the best interests of a child be of paramount consideration in all actions.” However, it must be in tandem with the laws. For example, the UNCRC provides for compulsory access to education and prohibits sexual abuse (early and forced marriage until eighteen years old) in Articles 28 and 34, respectively. Unfortunately, child marriage remains a prevalent practice in northern Nigeria. Girls about the age of 10 or 12 still get betrothed or married off.

Furthermore, children still engage in hawking on highways during school hours and sessions (against Child’s Rights Act, 2003), and seemingly little or nothing is being done to protect them or deter parents and guardians from such practices. By ratifying the Child’s Rights Convention and the African Children’s Charter, the Nigerian government has a duty to enforce these laws in a uniform and coherent manner. This says that the main thing that hurts children’s rights is people’s inability to follow the laws that have been passed.

Umegboro ACIArb, a public affairs analyst and social advocate, is reachable via: [email protected] [08023184542-SMS/WhatsApp]

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