But, there is already an
army, ten million strong, of deprived Nigerian children whose numbers will
swell this year. That is the army of school-age children not in school. Every
September, the country is confronted with a fresh crop of kids ready for
nursery and primary schools. And each year Nigeria fails to find space for them
all. That accounts for the accumulated figure of ten million.
For thirty years, this
nation experienced no recession similar to what we have now. Yet we could not
educate all our children to primary school level. The recession of 2016 will
mark a watershed in Nigerian education because it is likely to increase the
number of kids out of school. Unfortunately, many of the new dropouts might be
kids who were in school until July this year but whose parents can no longer
afford to send them to school. The ominous signs are everywhere, from
pre-nursery to primary, secondary to university levels.
The most expensive schools
are experiencing low new intake and unprecedented levels of withdrawals. And
public schools might find more applicants at their gates than they can cope
with. Educational accessories, in addition to fees, have gone through the roof.
Books, mathematics and science sets, exercise books, uniforms, shoes and berets
are available at unprecedented prices – at a time when parents’ discretionary
incomes are shrinking on account of rising inflation. Never in Nigerian history
have so many parents been in doubt about where the money would come from to
meet the avalanche of financial obligations – rents, transport, food and health
bills.
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