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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja and Gabriel Dike
The Federal Government has approved the audit of schools that benefit from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds.
The audit, which will cover both private and public schools, would enable the government to get feed back on the impact of the programme on Nigerian children.
Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who divulged the information at “Early childhood education conference” organised by UNICEF in Abuja, yesterday, said government has approved the commitment of five percent of UBE funds to early childhood education.
Adamu, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Sunny Echono, expressed optimism that such additional allocation would reduce the number of out-of-school-children which is currently at an alarming rate.
UNICEF representative, Mallick Fall, was unhappy that 60 percent out of 22.2 million under-five children in Nigeria risk poor development due to lack of early childhood development support.
He suggested two years of free pre-primary education, six months of paid maternity leave and four weeks paternity leave.
He added: “Nigeria is putting its children at risk of under development, both physically and mentally, because critical national policies are not providing adequate foundation for their growth.
“During the first years of a child’s life, the brain grows rapidly. So, providing good nutrition, love, care and appropriate play would provide solid foundation for such child to develop and contribute to economic and social growth.”
According to a medical journal, The Lancet, Nigeria ranks among 10 countries with the largest number of children at risk of poor development.
A 2016 national survey indicated that 31 percent of children under the age of five were moderately or severely underweight in Nigeria.
Stunting, as a result of malnutrition, can cause irreversible physical and mental retardation. Even though exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life has clearly been shown to improve physical and mental development, the same survey revealed that only 24 percent of Nigerian children were exclusively breastfed for six months. Paid maternity leave will help to increase the number of children exclusively breastfed.
“What we call early childhood development, which includes physical and cognitive support, has a strategic place in the achievement of the sustainable development goals,” said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF’s representative in Nigeria. “Investing in early childhood development, including services to support caregivers, quality pre-primary education and good nutrition will help to secure healthy and productive future generations in Nigeria.
“Exclusive breastfeeding and having good early childhood development policies in place will help improve the overall health and nutrition of a child, enable parents and caregivers to be more responsive to children’s needs and provide greater safety and security. It will also provide improved early learning,” he added.
