Needs-based Education: Where will Nigeria’s “Other Children” School?

In a paper published in June 2020, Catholic cleric, Hassan Kukah, highlighted supposed victimization of Almajiri children in Nigeria. According to the reverend cleric, the Almajiri children are victims of the northern Muslim elite, and by extension the failure of the Nigerian state. The paper concluded with John Pepper Clark’s sobering civil war poem, “Casualties”. Like victims of the war, the Almajiri child burns in a fire he did not start and is a victim of a matter he has no say in. 

While Kukah’s paper described the failure of the state to a group of Nigerian children, it also presents the concept of categorization of school children in the country. Perhaps Nigeria has two categories of children, after all, the children, and the other children. Although both categories appear deprived, it seems that whereas one is merely deprived, the other is intensely deprived.

From UBEC’s Compendium of Public School’s Basic Education Profile Indicators 2018, there are five categories of schools in Nigeria. They are conventional schools, special needs school, nomadic schools, migrant fishermen/ farmers schools, Islamiyya schools, and Tsangaya/Almajiri schools. While each of these schools operates with some similarities, the purpose of the categorization is different.

An overview of the education profile indicators revealed that over 90 percent of Nigeria’s 109,657 government-owned basic education schools are conventional schools. Specifically, 99,360 of these schools are conventional schools. The four other categories of basic education schools compete for less than ten percent remaining. 

Islamiyya schools had the next highest cumulative proportion in the list. As at the time of the survey, there were 4924 public Islamiyya schools, representing 4.5 percent of the total number of government-owned basic education schools. However, Islamiyya schools have very close similarities with conventional schools and can be considered, in some ways, conventional. These schools combine elements of the traditional curriculum with educational models inspired by Western and Arab models.

In the context Nigeria’s other children, this article has focused specifically on nomadic and Almajiri schools. Little attention has been put on special needs schools due to the paucity of data on the number of Nigerian children with special needs. A blind eye has also been turned to the significantly low number of migrant fishermen and farmers schools. The assumption is that children of farmers and fishers may obtain an education at conventional schools across the country. 

Breakdown of Government-Owned Basic Education Schools by Categories

On the other hand, the number of Almajiri schools appear low. For instance, as of 2014, Nigeria had 9.5 million Almajiri children which accounted for about 72 percent of the out of school children in the country. While the current number is not determined, it can be assumed that Nigeria might have as much as 10 million Almajiris. 

However, there were only 479 Almajiri Schools in Nigeria as of 2018. This amounts to a total of merely 0.44 percent of the total number of government-owned basic education schools. Although there is the possibility that Almajiris may attend conventional schools, the proportion appears unfavourable. 479 schools to about 10 million children do not appear adequate.

The Guardian editorial had alarmed Almajiri schools built with N15 billion were either in ruins or remodelled as conventional schools. While the editorial believed the schools lay waste because the pupils have returned roaming the streets for alms, the bigger challenge remains lack of a comprehensive educational policy. 

Though President Jonathan invested so much in taking the kids out of the street, the intervention lacked participatory solution from the cultural and religious leaders who gatekeep the education of these children.

Beyond this, the paucity of data often affects a comprehensive situational assessment in Nigeria. For example, while there were over 3,000 nomadic schools in 2018, the number might be low considering the huge number of itinerant herders in the country. Every Nigerian should agree that herders are present almost everywhere in the country. 

Relatively, the cumulative number of conventional schools suggests some form of preferential treatment for ‘conventional’ learners. Thus, it is important that Nigeria ensures that both the children and the other children are not deprived of basic education. Close to this is the need to provide education according to needs. Data should be sourced on the real needs and the government should work to ensure that all categories of Nigerian children have access to basic education.