Femi Falana, a senior advocate for human rights in Nigeria, urged the Nigeria (NASS) National Assembly on Sunday to quit making empty statements about the subpar condition of the country’s basic education system.
Trying to change the Basic education act
Falana criticised the MPs for trying to change the Universal Basic Education Act of 2004 by enacting harsh penalties for parents who fail to send their children to school in a statement he signed and made accessible to our correspondent.
“The unnecessary resolutions are regrettable in that they demonstrate how the federal law markers appear to lack institutional memory of even the legislative accomplishments made in enacting legislation to support universal access to basic education.
“Since each of the 36 states of the Federation adopted the Child’s Rights Act and enacted a Child’s Right Law, it has become the joint responsibility of the federal, state, and local governments to ensure that every Nigerian child is given access to free and compulsory education,” Falana stated.
Not giving basic education attention
According to Jerrymusa.com The attorney went on to say that by failing to ensure that the counterpart sum that states are obligated to contribute is paid to UBEC, members of the political class have not given basic education adequate attention.
Because the political class, which is made up of representatives from all registered political parties, has not shown any commitment to ensuring that every child in Nigeria receives a quality education, these laws have been violated.
“As a result, the members of the legislative and executive branches of government have failed to recognise the threat posed by the highest number of unschooled children in the world—18.5 million. Therefore, tightening the requirements for parents who won’t work in an atmosphere of poverty under the Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act.
the constitution needs adjustments
As stated in Section 2 of the Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act, the National Assembly should instead address the issue of state governments’ failure to make matching payments to the Universal Basic Education Fund.
He continued, “The National Assembly should urgently see to it that the Constitution is amended so that the Accountant-General of the Federation is given the authority to withdraw from the source the counterpart sum payable by each state government to the Universal Basic Education sum.