CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

      Child labour and school attendance has become a topical and growing issue to children, the family, schools, journalists, psychologists, sociologists, politicians, philanthropists, counsellors, literary artists and the society at large. Education in Nigeria is compulsory for a child that is below the age of 14. The National Policy on Education (1998), revised three years after the 1995 Beijing Declaration, clearly stated in Section 1 Sub-section 4c of the National Policy on Education (2004) “that every Nigerian child  shall have a right to equal educational opportunities irrespective of any real or imagined disabilities…...” (p.7). In pursuance of this, in September 1999, the President of Nigeria (Chief Olusegun Obasanjo) launched the new Universal Basic Education (UBE) plan that requires the first nine years of schooling to be free and compulsory (Education For All, 2001) the plan aims at improving the relevance, efficiency, and quality of schools and to create programmes to address the basic educational needs of nomadic and out–of–school children, youth and adults (Felix, 1999). In its 2000 budget, the government of Nigeria budgeted 46million naira (US$ 230,000) to support this plan (EFA, 2000).

      School attendance is a measure of the number of time a child is present in school. This shows clearly the amount or period of time a child comes to school. The amount is measured with the document called school register. The school register which consists of name, admission number of the child is marked both morning and afternoon on a daily and weekly basis. Regular attendance indicates that the pupil is not under the threat of child labour. Another dimension of school attendance is completely staying away from school as a result of child labour. In this case, children are made to stay away from school by their parents in preference for hawking or domestic servitude.

      Even though, recent school attendance rates are unavailable for Nigeria, enrolment rates indicate a level of commitment to education. However, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in school (Country Reports 2000). Gross primary school enrolment declined in Nigeria from approximately 86.2 percent in 1993 to 70.3 percent in 1996 (UNESCO, 2000) and the ratio increased in 2000 to about 118.5. Also, there seems to be a low gross and net school enrolment and attendance in Nigeria. Dropout rates for both males and females in primary school remained high, around 10 to 15 percent between 1990 and 1994 for each level of education. Only 64 percent of the pupils in primary school completed class six, and only 43.5 percent continued on to junior secondary school (Country Reports, 2000). Also there are reports of a bias against girl-child education, particularly in rural northern areas of Nigeria that only 42 percent of rural girls enrolled in schools compared with 72 percent of urban girls and that in the north, girls are often withdrawn from schools and placed into early marriages, domestic and agricultural labour, or commercial activities such as trading and street hawking.

      The world demographic profile shows that Nigeria is the tenth most populous country represents one-fifth of the population of the Africa continent. Various population censuses have consistently shown that children between 0-14 years constitute a significant proportion of the population of Nigeria. The first census, conducted in 1962 – 63, showed that out of 55.7 million people, 43.1% were children. The result of the 1991 population count indicates that out of about 88.6 million people, about 45% were children between 0-14 years. The details of the 2006 census show that children constitute quite a percentage of the nation’s population which shows that children represent a significant proportion of Nigeria’s population.

       This child – related demographic data have led to increased calls for a separate government ministry to handle issues related to the welfare of children through which some rights of the child can be guaranteed. The UN General Assembly International Convention of Civil and Political Rights resolution in 1996, article 24 of The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the child (to which Nigeria is a signatory), the Child Rights Act approved by the Nigeria Parliament which adopts the UN convention and the AU Charter on the Rights of the Child all stipulated that “the child is entitled to receive free and compulsory education, and shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation”.

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