Awareness on universal basic education policy and out of school children phenomenon in Nigeria

Abstract

Basic education policy in Nigeria is free, universal and compulsory for the first nine years of schooling. The policy envisaged a drastic reduction in the reluctance of parents/guardians towards basic education in parts of Nigeria where the pursuit of qur’anic education remained predominant. So far, the free education programme had yielded less than desirable results as the number of Out of School Children (OOSC) remain largely and increasingly unacceptable, thus necessitating a study that investigated stakeholders’ perspectives on the extent to which awareness and the participation in schooling amongst school age children has been achieved. Hence, the level of awareness and how stakeholders’ perspectives may be impacting on universal basic education policy implementation vis-à-vis out of school children phenomenon in Nigeria were examined. In fulfilling the objective of the study, the respondents’ perspectives were obtained through a multi-stage sampling technique. The selection of the state was purpose driven; hence purposive sampling of Kano State, and within Kano metropolis, North-western Nigeria, all the four Local government within the metropolis namely: Taurani, Fegge, Nasarawa and Kano Municipal Council were Local Education Authorities -LEAs were purposively selected. Further, 30 facilitators of qur’anic schools who were selected from each of the 4 LEAs in Kano metropolis amounting to 120 facilitators (respondents) that were sampled, and a structured questionnaire was administered to them. Findings revealed a high level of awareness of stakeholders on the consequences of non-schooling. However, it was inferred that the aged facilitators of the qur’anic schools could affect the effort and process of integrating basic education programmes into the qur’anic schools thus exacerbating the exclusion of children from the formal education worsening OOSC phenomenon. Recommendations were made as follows: that qur’anic school, class-size, class-management and facilitations processes should be standardized, to enhance curriculum integration and inclusiveness. Moreover, enlightenment of stakeholders be intensified