The right to education is a fundamental human right in Nigeria.  This right is also recognized, as well as guaranteed in international laws. What is more, Nigeria is one of the signatories to many human rights instruments guaranteeing the right of education of any child to education. Be that as it may, Nigeria still has so many children that are out of school.  In fact, Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world today.

What Nigerian law says

The right to education of children has been persistently excluded from the list of fundamental human rights entrenched in the Nigerian constitution (1999 version). Education provision is seen as the duty of the state government.  This is even though it was lifted from socioeconomic rights.

According to the Child Rights Act, education is an absolute right of every child at the elementary level. According to the Act, there is a prescribed punishment for guardians and parents that fail to send their wards to schools. 

While the parents and guardians are to be punished, there is no such prescription for the government. This is one of the many factors that prevent the law from being effective. If the parents and guardians take their kids to school as prescribed by the Child Rights Act, the government may fail to provide the essential facilities and equipment needed to impact the child's knowledge.

Challenges facing the child right to education in Nigeria

The above and many other factors are the challenges being faced by the Child Rights Act, thereby preventing its effectiveness. Check below for some other challenges that are preventing the adequate implementation of the Act.  

• The education laws, including the Child Rights Act, are inadequate and require many modifications to make them adequately effective.
• The education right does not have proper recognition under Chapter IV of the Nigerian constitution (1999 version).
• There is an education obligation in Chapter II of the Nigerian constitution, but it is mentioned in a non-justiciable manner, affecting its proper implementation.
• Education matter is included under the residual list to make things even worse, which renders it somewhat irrelevant.
• Judicial activism lacks a great deal, which is also negatively affecting the effectiveness of the Child Rights Act. Lack of judicial activism can be traced to the lack of independence of the judiciary.   
• Many politicians lack the political will to implement the Child Rights Act.
• Inability and unreadiness of the government to provide adequate financing for the education sector of the economy. It is common to see the government earmarking more funds to some other sectors that are not as important as the education sector, affecting the implementation of the Child Rights Act.
• Corruption is one other issue resulting in poor or non-implementation of the Child Rights Act. When funds are allocated to the education sector, it is unfortunate that many government agencies fail to use the funds as prescribed, thereby making the education sector suffer greatly.
• Failure of the government to monitor how the education sector spends funds. The duty of the government should not be limited to just providing funds but also monitoring how the funds are met.
• Socio-cultural issues can also affect the implementation of the Child Rights Act since some ethnic groups do not believe in western education, while some other ones think it is unnecessary to send a female child to school.

So, what is the way out of this quagmire? Continue reading to find out.

How to make the Child Rights Act more effective in Nigeria

Check the highlights below for helpful answers

• The government needs to amend the existing law since it has even been shown to be ineffective in bringing it to pass the full implementation of the Act. For one, the government needs to move education rights from Chapter IV to Chapter II. The government also needs to amend section 6 (6) (c) of the constitution so that the education right can be justiciable. Furthermore, the government should move education to an exclusive legislative list.
• The CRA should make it possible for the child to claim his education right from the government.
• There should be adequate strengthening for enforcement mechanisms to spend funds according to how they are allocated.
• Government should provide adequate funding for education
• The judiciary should be positively active also so that relevant laws can be passed effectively and quickly. For example, the attorney general office must be separated from that of the minister of justice.
• Adequate socioeconomic infrastructure should also be provided.    

 If the above can be implemented, it will be straightforward for the Child Rights Act to be implemented. This way, many more children can be taken off the street and admitted to schools.

The law covers individuals up to 18 years, and the educational provision by the government should cover their needs too.  It does not matter where the child comes from, and things like sects or beliefs of the parents should never be considered before implementing the Child Rights Act.   

Lack of political will is one of the many challenges that face the implementation of the Child Rights Act. In fact, this is the most prevalent of all the challenges.  Lack of political will is responsible for including the attorney general's office under the ministry of justice.  It is also responsible for the inability of the government to monitor funds allocated to education. As a result, such funds get misappropriated.  

Corruption is one other major issue worthy of consideration.  If the government can put aside a lackadaisical attitude towards funding and management of allocated funds in the education ministry, it will be easier to implement the Child Rights Act. 

Education funding should not be limited to the employment of more teachers; it should also concern the provision of essential amenities that will make teaching a lot easier for the teachers and help the students to get better academically.