APC, PDP trade words over out-of-school children rate in Kwara

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have traded words over the rate of out-of- school children in the state.

The PDP secretary, Olusegun Olusola Adewara, in a statement said that the number of out-of-school children in the state, which stood at 84,247 in 2018, before the PDP administration handed over power, has now surged to 141,325 as at 2022, representing an increase of 68 per cent in just two years of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.

Mr. Adewara also said that the claim that the state has improved school enrolment by 48.7 per cent at the basic school level and that learning deprivation in Kwara public schools has reduced from 70.8 per cent to 51.6 per cent, all between the year 2019 and 2023 was not only an attempt to twist reality but deceit.

“We challenge the state government to furnish Kwarans with sources of their data or apologize for misleading the populace. Or, is it the current hardship occasioned by the misgovernance of the APC-led federal government which is now forcing parents to withdraw their wards from private schools to public schools that the governor is counting as an achievement?

“It is worthy of note that despite the over N14bn Abdulrahman government claimed to have expended in basic education since 2019, which was accessed from UBEC, government schools in Kwara are still in pitiable states with many not even suitable to keep pigs.

“In many rural communities of the state, there are still no schools at reasonable distance, in some schools, there are no teachers, as teachers posted to those areas find their way back to the cities citing an unconducive environment to deliver their services. 

“The insecurity in rural areas is another impediment that has forced many out of schools. With the way the government is handling insecurity with levity hands, the future of our younger ones is now in serious jeopardy. 

“The Kwara state government therefore owes the people an explanation as to how over N14bn was spent on the education sector in less than five years and the numbers of out-of-school children are soaring,” he said.

However, the APC state publicity secretary, Alhaji Tajudeen Aro Folaranmi, in his reaction, said public school enrollment has risen for reasons of improved infrastructure and better teaching quality, including access to digital tools and sanitation facilities that encourage more girl children to enrol in schools under the present administration. 

“Out-Of-School Children (OOSC), which, for Kwara and other states, are a function of many variables such as migration patterns, cultural beliefs, and poor attitude of some guardians, all of which are being tackled through various strategies as new school enrollment shows.

Such strategies include public enlightenment and a carrot-and-stick approach in communities where children of school age are compelled to go to farm during school hours. Since 2018’s out of school children’s data represented the realities of the previous year (2017), it is expected that PDP would show the data for 2019 or even 2020 to properly situate its full realities. 

“For the avoidance of doubt, public school enrollments have grown by thousands between 2018 and now, thanks majorly to the efforts of the current government, which has restored public confidence in the schools. Under the PDP’s years of the locust, school infrastructure had collapsed and many teachers had abandoned classrooms to seek survival elsewhere because they were not being paid. Not many people wanted to enroll their children in schools with dilapidated structures and without teachers.

“Under our administration, public school enrollment has risen for reasons of improved infrastructure and better teaching quality, including unprecedented access to digital tools and sanitation facilities that encourage more girl children to enroll in schools. For example, whereas public primary school enrollment in 2018 stood at 179,004, it has risen consistently under this administration as follows: 181,306 (2019); 189,090 (2020); 189,237 (2021); and 209,711 (2022). 

Here is the ultimate indictment: in the early days when this administration hired some education experts to conduct an independent school census focusing on capabilities of the pupils, it was discovered that the average Primary 6 pupil could only read at the literacy skill level of a Primary 2 pupil, and 50% of upper class pupils (4-6) in public schools could only attempt a simple addition problem like 56+17=73. That was the record of the PDP government in Kwara State. 

“No one should be shocked by such grim outcome in our schools as PDP, in its reckless disregard for the future of the state, was so carefree that it was hiring persons without O Level Credit Passes in English and Maths to teach in basic classes, including public Junior Secondary Schools. PDP will do well to leave conversations around education and healthcare, or good governance, for that matter, to persons with requisite antecedents”.

READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE 

• 19 people kidnapped, 30 killed in Abuja landslide

• G-20 Summit: Let’s use our diversity for prosperity, national development — Tinubu

• Peter Obi rejects Tribunal verdict, heads to Supreme Court

• Nigeria lost $46bn crude oil stolen in 11 years – Speaker Abbas

• Confusion at Lagos airport over relocation of foreign flights

• VIDEO: Untold story of out-of-school kids in Ibadan

• EDITORIAL: The N81bn expenditure on tree planting