CHILD rights organisation Save the Children (SCI) has called on the Nigerian government to increase funding for the educational sector.
The organisation also condemned the rising number of out-of-school children in a statement released on Tuesday, January 24 to commemorate the International Day of Education.
It urged the government to resolve the literacy crisis plaguing the country.
“Save the Children International (SCI) Nigeria calls upon the government to ensure accessible, inclusive, safe, quality and free primary and secondary education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all children to realise and release their full potentials.
“To this end, we reiterate our demands for the Nigerian government’s fulfilment of H.E. President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment at the GPE Global Education Summit to increase education funding to 14% by 2022, 16.7% in 2023, 20% by 2024, and 22.5% by 2025,” the statement signed by Media and Communications Manager Kunle Olawoyin, said.
The organisation also called for the implementation of the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools to guarantee safety of staff and students.
SCI noted that funding the education sector would hasten economic growth in the country and harped on the importance of investing in girl-child education.
“Education has been recognized globally as a veritable and strategic venture pivotal to the economic transformation of any nation. Save the Children urges for the prioritization of girl child education and investing more in it to ensure no one is left behind in the race to agenda 2030.
“Save the Children encourages the training and retraining of teachers to be prioritized so that the children can get better life skills and knowledge required to make their future brighter. Education offers children a ladder out of poverty and a path to a promising future,” the statement added.
Nigeria is battling a literacy crisis with over 20 million out-of-school children, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The ICIR reported that fees demanded by government-owned schools in the FCT are contributing to the rise in the number of out-of-school children in the country. Many parents are unable to afford the cost of education due to harsh economic realities.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.