Institute urges individuals to partner govt in ensuring retention of children in school
The National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) has called wealthy individuals and the private sector to partner the government in ensuring that children did not drop out of school.
The Director General of NILS, Dr Ladi Hamalai, told a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja on Sunday that the institute was alarmed at the reported number of children dropping out of schools.
Hamalai said that as part of its contribution to ending the school dropout syndrome, NILS conducted a study in a number of settlements within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the objective of finding out what was responsible for the high rate of dropping out of school among children.
“What we really got is so simple. Yes, there is free basic education legally in the country, but the parents had some problems. There was no public school in their immediate vicinities and they cannot support their children to go to school in a neighbouring area that will take up to one or two kilometres.
“They wouldn’t have the funds to give them transport money. Some of the parents cannot buy school uniform. You know even in the basic education system, you have to buy or pay for uniform, books. Believe you me, the parents cannot.
“I know several cases in other communities where you have children getting out of schools because the parents cannot buy uniform, they cannot pay for the books, and they cannot pay Parent-Teacher Association fees.
The director-general said that the institute would collaborate with the media to sensitize members of the public to the need to address the situation,” she said.
According to her, the institute was planning to start a scheme that will enable it to collect contributions with which to build makeshift schools in FCT communities lacking schools.
Hamalai said that the era of leaving everything for the government to do was over.
“We believe that we can collaborate with the media. People can make commitment on the phone or through a programme in the media; we will get the names of the children and ask people to adopt one.
“You don’t have to see the child; you know there is such a child; you have the picture, then you can be paying for the basic things, and even some little money for lunch to buy bread as the child goes to school,” she said.