The House of Representatives has urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Musa Bello, to ensure full compliance with provisions of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act.It also asked for full compliance of the Child Rights Act.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun), at plenary on Thursday in Abuja.
He said there was need to reinforce the provisions of the compulsory, free Universal Basic Education Act, 2004 in the FCT and other parts of the country.
Salam said the report by the Federal Ministry of Education, in 2021, stated that an estimated number of out-of-school children in Nigeria were about 10.1 million.
He however said that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) put the number at 13.2 million and the figure appeared to be on the increase.
The lawmaker said that this was because the ministry of education had stated that there had been a more than three million increase in the figure from 2020.
He expressed worry about the report from UNICEF, adding that Nigeria had the highest number of out-of-school children in Sub-Saharan Africa and the highest in the world.
Salam said that Section two of the UBEC Act provided 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 child or ward attends and completes his primary and junior secondary school education.”
Salam said he was concerned that the provisions of UBEC Act and Child Rights Act were not being implemented, considering the statistics of the out-of-school children in Nigeria.
This, he said, was coupled with the presence of children on the streets hawking, begging, and undertaking all other activities during school hours in the FCT.
He said the neglect of children put their future and the future of Nigeria in jeopardy, as they were exposed to getting recruited into kidnapping and robbery gangs, drugs and other crimes.
Salam further said that the number of out-of-school children in the country was on a rapid increase and no arrest of defaulting parents or guardians were being made.
The house then urged UBEC to liaise with state governments that had adopted the Child Rights Act and the UBEC Act for enforcement of the provisions of the law.
The house also mandated the Committees on the FCT and Basic Education, as well as Services to ensure compliance.