Again, Nigeria in the league of non-achievers

A classroom block at Adolor Primary School, Benin City, Edo State

The growing lack of political will on the part of past and present governments, to tackle education problems in the country headlong, has yet again earned the country an unwanted medal. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in a new edition of The Global Education Monitoring Report (the GEM Report), on current trends, the country will achieve Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 2070; Universal Lower Secondary Completion (ULSC) in 2080 and Universal Upper Secondary Education (UUSC) in the next century. Though saddened by the development, stakeholders who saw it coming are not surprised. They, however, want government to match words with action, if the country must recover lost grounds. Assistant Features Editor,
ENO-ABASI SUNDAY, writes.

Based on current trends, Universal Primary Education (UPE), which was supposed to have been achieved in 2015, under the 2000 Dakar Education For All agreement, won’t be realised until 2042. Universal Lower Secondary Completion (ULSC) won’t be achieved until 2059, and Universal Upper Secondary Completion (UUSC) will only be attained in 2084.

Even though rich countries are not on course either, the poorest countries will reach universal primary education over 100 years later than their rich counterparts. In fact, even at the fastest rate of progress ever seen in the region, one in 10 countries in Europe and North America would still not achieve UUSC by 2030.Sadly, Nigeria and 19 other countries with the slowest progress are all in sub-Saharan Africa. They won’t achieve ULSC until next century. The first non-African country on the bottom of the infamous list is Honduras, which is expected to complete hers in 2095.

Denmark, the United States, Switzerland and Ireland, will all achieve UUSC in 2035, on par with Kazakhstan. Sweden, Belgium, Germany and New Zealand will be 10 years late, on par with Mongolia. France will be 15 years late, on par with the Philippines. Greece will be 20 years late, on par with Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia.All these revelations are contained in a the new Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report by UNESCO, released Tuesday, which also show education’s potential to propel progress towards all global goals outlined in the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs). It also shows that education needs a major transformation to fulfill that potential and meet the current challenges facing humanity and the planet.

From the whittling down of budgetary allocation to the education sector, to the non-tracking of even the scarce resources allocated, as well as the less than transparent management of allocated resources, the country’s education sector has continued to lag behind as far as meeting internationally set goals is concerned. This latest report, adds to a long list of failures that the country has been recording in the recent past.