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This week, a new
campaign has launched to call on political leaders standing in the
upcoming election to tackle the myriad of education problems that
Nigeria faces. The Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All
(CSACEFA), 1 Goal For Education campaign wants to highlight the issues
and propose bold solutions. The campaign is urging our elected
representatives to ensure that every Nigerian child gets the
opportunity to learn to read and write.

There remains much
to be done in Nigeria if education for all is to be achieved. There are
significant issues with enrolment, learning attainment and literacy.
The upcoming presidential election is an important milestone in the
history of Nigeria and presents an opportunity to tackle these issues.
Despite the significant difficulties, there are solutions if Nigeria’s
leaders show a firm commitment to take action to end this crisis in
education. More money must be invested in education and mechanisms need
to be put in place so that there is greater transparency and
accountability in how that money is spent.

As things stand,
the country lags far behind in the actualisation of the Education For
All Goals agreed at the Dakar World Education Forum in April 2000. At
that historic meeting, Nigeria, along with over 100 other countries,
agreed to ensure that every child would receive a basic quality
education and that this would be in place in 2015. Sadly, Nigeria is
lagging way behind in the goals.

There are three key
areas which need to be addressed. Enrolment is a critical as Nigeria
‘officially’ has over 8 million children not attending in school. The
UNESCO 2007 Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report said 60
per cent of children enrolled in primary schools in Nigeria drop out
before the last grade. The 2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report has it
that Nigeria has more primary age children out of school than any other
country in the world. This situation is unacceptable and casts doubt on
the country’s ability to develop both socially and economically in the
coming years.

The second major
issue is learning attainment. A study reported by the World Bank found
the learning achievements of students in Nigeria’s primary schools to
be the lowest amongst 22 countries in sub-Saharan and North Africa. For
example, the percentage of students who made five credits, including
English and Mathematics, nationwide from 2000 to 2004 is just 23
percent and further declined to only 1.8 per cent for candidates that
sat for the 2009 NECO examination. When you think about those two major
obstacles, it is clear that this will have a knock on effect with
literacy. The literacy rate in Nigeria is only 57 percent but that rate
has increased over the last 10 years. Nigeria as an E9 country (one of
the world’s 9 most populous developing countries) is one of the 15
countries with the highest number of illiterates and one of the top
five countries of the developing world that will not achieve any
meaningful EFA goals in 2020, let alone 2015.

In the
circumstance, CSACEFA, 1 Goal For Education campaign and millions of
their supporters are convinced more than ever that nothing short of
creative thinking and bold political will can guarantee the attainment
of the EFA Goals at both Global and Country level. In the last few
days, the campaign has sent a letter to every candidate, calling on
them to sign a pledge committing to three things:

1. Develop, publish
and implement a structured plan to reach the internationally-recognised
target of 26 per cent of budgets (UNESCO Recommended Standard),
allocated to education provision ensuring that half of this is for
primary schooling and 3 per cent for adult education, within the first
two years.

2. Publish
allocations, disbursements and projects to enhance citizens’ monitoring
of resource allocation and utilisation in the education sector, at all
relevant levels, recognising that this will help citizens’ feedback
report to the government.

3. Inaugurate a
joint government/civil society task team to facilitate mechanisms and
processes for independent monitoring of education budget and projects.

As Nigeria reaches another significant moment in its democratic
journey and with bigger economic opportunities looming, political
leaders standing in the upcoming election need to seize this
opportunity and make a public statement endorsing the goals of
education for all. The campaign will specifically ask our politicians
and candidates to take further steps in demonstrating their commitment
to education for all by adding their name to the 1 Goal Contract.
Ordinary people can also make a difference by showing support to
Nigerian school children by joining the 1 Goal Nigeria: Education For
All campaign. The campaign will periodically address press conferences
and issue statements to release the names of political parties and
candidates that have endorsed the contract. This is a key moment in the
history of Nigeria and we hope that our leaders can seize this for a
better future for all Nigerians.