Make basic education truly free and accessible – Stakeholders urge FG

Some stakeholders in the education sector have appealed to the Federal Government to make basic education truly accessible to all children in the country.

They made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr Silver Eze, a teacher said although basic education is supposed to be free of charge the reality is that it is difficult for many parents to send their children to school due to lack of funds.

Eze urged governments to implement cash rewards policy to parents whose children are in school to encourage other parents to send their children to school.

Mr Andrew Oseiwe, a teacher, urged governments to work towards ensuring a true free education policy for all Nigerian children.

He appealed to them to eradicate any form of payment of fees in Universal Basic Education schools.

Oseiwe also said that proper monitoring should be enforced to avoid abuse of the process by both parents and school administrators.

He said that some parents did not value the UBE system because of the poor learning environment and infrastructure.

Oseiwe also urged governments to ensure that all students were covered in school feeding programme, adding that it has been partially successful in some parts of the country.

Mrs Rashidat Musa, a teacher, said that it should be made mandatory for parents to send their children to school.

“Every child has the right to be educated, to become a responsible adult in the development of the society,” she said.

Musa urged governments to provide basic necessities like free school uniforms, sport wears and reduction of school fess for students.

Mr Victory Adebowale, a student advised governments to give special scholarship to five out of seven children from every parents to assist them.

He also said that enhanced teachers welfare and prompt payment of salaries would encourage teachers to carry out their duties effectively.

“The school feeding programme has not been a total success because not all UBE schools are benefiting, The Federal Government should ensure it is implemented in all schools in Nigeria,” he said

Adebowale appealed to the governments and NGOs to educate parents on the importance of sending their children to school.