The Lagos State Government, while launching its ‘Project Zero 3’ recently, renewed commitment to ensure children of poor, indigent and low-income families are provided with school kits, exercise books and writing materials to encourage and stimulate their returning and remaining in school. Assistant Editor Bola Olajuwon reports.
THE Federal Government last week blamed states for not complementing its plans to tackle the challenge of out-of-school children. Education Minister Adamu Adamu blamed the rising figures on states following a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in partnership with Global Education Monitoring Report that the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria had risen to 20 million from about 12.5 million recorded last year.
Speaking on the theme: “Strengthening of Security and Safety in Nigerian Schools for the Achievement of Education 2030 Agenda,” at the 66th National Council on Education (NEC) meeting in Abuja last week, Adamu called on all states to rise up to their responsibilities, and provide a safe and secure learning environment for both students and teachers.
UNESCO, which said a new and improved methodology was used to arrive at the latest figures, said there are “244 million children and youth between the ages of six and 18 worldwide (who) are still out-of-school “, with India, Nigeria and Pakistan having the highest figures of out-of-school children globally.
COVID-19, poverty, lack of schools, insecurity and tradition, among others, are the major factors pushing many children out-of-school. This is despite the provisions of Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which every country is a signatory, including Nigeria.
Lagos and its Project Zero
But, while the blame game is on, one state that has been up and doing in the case of out-of-school children is Lagos State. Since late November 2020, it launched Project Zero, an intervention programme designed to tackle the menace of out-of-school children in the state by enrolling pupils back into government-owned primary schools. As the COVID-19 lockdown was lifted, the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration, through the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) and in conjunction with the organised private sector, inaugurated the programme.
“Project Zero” is informed by zero-tolerance for out-of-school children and is backed by Lagos State Child’s Rights Law (the right of every child to free and compulsory primary education).
Through the programme, children of poor, indigent and low-income families are provided with school bags, school uniforms, sandals, socks, exercise books and writing materials to encourage and stimulate their returning and remaining in school. Through this public-private mechanism, LASUBEB and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Poverty Alleviation also provide aids and support to parents and guardians of the project’s beneficiaries.
After the launch of phase I and II of the programme, over 7,000 out-of-school children with special needs have been successfully reintegrated into state’s public primary school system. The figure is beside the other number of school children absorbed under the public school admission programmes.
Renewing commitment through Project Zero Phase III
As part of strategies to address the menace in the state, LASUBEB recently sensitised stakeholders on the implementation of Project Zero Phase lll, which kicked off at the board’s Multi-Purpose Hall.
At the gathering, which had in attendance education stakeholders and non-governmental organisations, the LASUBEB Executive Chairman, Wahab Alawiye-King, noted that the education transformation agenda of Sanwo-Olu’s administration is the responsibility of all. He stated that the purpose of the programme is to form alliances, build consensus and partnership with stakeholders in ensuring that no child is left behind in the access to basic education in the state.
Alawiye-King identified that most of the out-of-school children are majorly faced with economic issues, adding that the programme would support every less-privileged child willing to acquire basic education.
He reminded the gathering that the out-of-school children issue is a global phenomenon and it’s not peculiar to the state and Nigeria alone. According to him, the stakeholders must support the state government and the board to tackle the menace head on.
At the event, Board Member in charge of Social Mobilisation, LASUBEB Mrs. Sijuade Idowu-Tiamiyu, commended the stakeholders on their efforts at ensuring the success of Project Zero in all the phases of the initiative.
In an interview with The Nation after the launch, Mrs. Idowu-Tiamiyu, while speaking about the project, said: “Well, I don’t like talking about Project Zero in phases. When people speak in phases, they are saying we have completed one part and starting another. However, Project Zero is Project Zero, whether they call it Phase I, II or III, because the achievements are reported jointly AND not phase by phase.
“The reason it was phased the first time was because phase I of the project focused on children that were on the verge of dropping out-of-school – children affected by the socio-economic impact of COVID-19. Then, Phase11 is mainly targetted at children, who are not in school and children who are completely out-of-school. Ever since we started Phase II and so far so good, we have taken care of over 7,800 children. Over 7,800 children have been enrolled in schools as a result of Project Zero and as we continue to do this, we do not just give these children starter kits, we also empowered their parents. We are partnering with the state Women and Poverty Alleviation Ministry to empower parents of indigent pupils.
“You would agree with me that giving school sandals, socks, bags and school uniform are not enough to keep a child in school. It might be sufficient for an older child, but what keeps a child in school is beyond provision of starter kits. So, when we realised that some of our children are Out-of-school due to socio-economic reasons, especially poverty, we empowered their parents to continue to cater for them beyond what we have provided to ensure sustainability of the programme and retention of the children in schools. So, basically, we have empowered over 270 parents and have enrolled over 7,000 children from Project Zero.”
‘Pressure already on Lagos school infrastructure’
On whether there is any statistical data for the number of Out-of-school children in Lagos State, she said no.
On the national figure, Mrs. Idowu-Tiamiyu said: “Well, the 20 million is inclusive of children, who are supposed to be in secondary school; that’s why the figure expanded. The 10.5 million is for children who are supposed access basic education, but are not accessing basic education. There’s an expansion of the age range because children that should access basic education are from ages six to maybe 15 maximum. But now, if you are looking at it beyond those ages, of course, you’d get more figures. But to be honest, there are now more out-of-school children than we used to have. COVID has made a lot of impact – both social and economic impact – and these figures continue to rise.
“Also insecurity, insurgency and natural disasters are throwing people out of their normal places and, of course, as they throw them out, people go to places that are safe. Lagos is one of the safest places to live in – you don’t have mass shootings, you don’t have rampant kidnapping of people. So, a lot of people migrate to Lagos and of course it is economically viable and as these people come in, they come with all their bags and baggages, their kids and their families. As they come in with their families, we accommodate them and in accommodating them, we accommodate their kids in schools.
‘’So, there is pressure already on our infrastructure because we need to accommodate more children and as people troop into Lagos, they don’t come individually, they come with their wives and kids. People are talking about insurgency in the North; it is affecting us here because people are migrating.
“We have children in Lagos without their parents – some of whom are under a Sarki. Their parents have been killed due to insurgency and as these kids come in, you cannot ignore them, we need to cater for them. As the kids come in and settle, many of them would like to go back to school, you find them begging, cleaning windscreens, hawking and there is need for government to do something about it. We need to tackle the issue of out-of-school children for various reasons; part of which is to ensure the security of Lagos.”
How project zero works
On how the programme works, the board member said: “Project Zero leverages on local expertise. We work with school-based management committees and who are they? They are members of the community who are interested in school administration. They are like a bridge between the school and community. They are in the best position to identify and deploy a strategy to tackle the menace of out-of-school children in their community. Government provides the kits, but how do you get the children? We all know there is a huge security concerns, particularly with kidnapping. Would you go and pick a child off the streets and not be lynched as a kidnapper? Before people know you are a member of school-based management committee and you’re trying to help, something else could have happened. The committee members are residents of the community. They know the parents of the kids who are out-of-school. They will then approach those parents and speak to them. The committee members advise us on out-of-school children in their communities. For example, for a child in Surulere, the best person to advise me is a person living in Surulere. We also work with the Parents’ Forums and the Good Mothers Associations, because these are residents of the area. They are in the best position to advise us on what to do. We are using local knowledge and expertise in driving this.”
On what the board hopes to achieve during implementation of phase III, she said: “What we are doing this time is targeted at 5,000 children. My belief this time is that 5000 children would have been enrolled into schools.”
On how she would describe the achievements so far, Mrs. Sijuade Idowu-Tiamiyu concluded: “It’s been a slow, steady and calculated one! It is not as swift as you want it to be. But, it is happening and it is steady but as the saying goes, ‘slow and steady wins the race’.”
