Former vice chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe has decried the high rate of out-of-school children and the gap disparities in the education system in the country.
According to UNICEF, about 10.5 million children are currently out of school in Nigeria even though primary education is officially free and compulsory.
Prof Ogundipe whose keynote address dwelled on “Education: A Vision For The Future” at the 60th birthday colloquium held in honour of the 9th vice chancellor, Lagos State University (LASU), Prof, Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello said some drastic measures must be taken to return the children back to school.
He remarked that the gap refers to the disparities in educational outcomes and access to opportunities that exist among different groups of students.
He stated, “A critical challenge to education in Nigeria is the high number of children not attending school. At the primary level, the situation is particularly concerning as the number of out of school children by geographical regions shows North-West at 3,490,670; North-East 2,001,038; South-West 1,451,739; North-Central 1,329,112; South-South, 1,208,182 and South-East 713,176.
“Seven states in Northern Nigeria (Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kebbi, Yobe, and Zamfara) have out-of-school rates exceeding 50 percent. This translates to more than half of primary school-aged children in these states lacking access to any formal education.”
He asserted that the above statistics shows that the growth and all-round societal development are challenged.
Ogundipe, however, pointed out that education is being reshaped globally across various demographics, including populations, gender, race and religion.
“Additionally, we must work towards realising the national goals of education as articulated in our National Policy of Education.
“Education in Nigeria has emancipated from the structure of service to freedom of educational opportunity for many. The Sustainable Development Goal 4 intends to achieve quality education for all by the year 2030.
He however lauded LASU’s VC for the infrastructure development seen all around the institution, as it also ranks among one of the best universities in the country and West Africa.
In her remark, the vice chancellor of LASU, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello expressed enthusiasm about advancement in the present and future with the deployment of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) being the digital phenomenon that can control human activities.
She lauded the keynote speaker for being supportive as a colleague in the academic sphere and dignitaries who graced the occasion to mark her 60th birthday.