The National Commission for Nomadic Education has disclosed that approximately 5.5 million children from nomadic pastoralist, migrant fishing and migrant farming communities are currently out of school across Nigeria.
The Acting Executive Secretary of the commission, Dr Umar Abdu, disclosed this during an interview with PUNCH on the sidelines of a three-day international conference on education for nomadic pastoralists and other marginalised learners in Kano.
Abdu said the affected communities had a combined estimated population of 45.9 million across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
He explained that the Federal Government’s nomadic education programme was designed to cater for all three groups, contrary to the widespread belief that it was exclusively meant for Fulani pastoralists.
According to him, the commission currently has about 1.9 million learners enrolled in its education programmes nationwide.
Abdu said the commission had adopted flexible learning approaches, including mobile schools, lessons under trees and radio-based education, to reach children whose access to conventional schools was limited by insecurity, geographical barriers and other challenges.
He added that plans were underway to establish skills acquisition centres to provide young people in the communities with vocational training and alternative means of livelihood.
However, the commission identified inadequate funding, shortage of teachers, rising dropout rates among girls and difficulties transitioning from primary to junior secondary education as major obstacles to its operations.
Abdu lamented that teachers trained and deployed to nomadic schools were sometimes transferred to conventional schools, disrupting learning activities in the affected communities.
He said, “We sometimes experience situations where teachers trained and deployed to nomadic schools are transferred to conventional schools. This results in teacher attrition and disrupts the continuity of learning in nomadic communities.”
On girls’ education, the commission’s head said enrolment was often encouraging in the lower primary classes but dropped from Primary Four as some parents withdrew their daughters for early marriage and domestic responsibilities.
He also raised concerns about the practice of parents withdrawing older children from school to assist with cattle rearing, fishing and farming before enrolling their younger siblings in their place.
Describing the practice as the “child substitution syndrome”, Abdu said it disrupted children’s educational progress because younger siblings could not automatically continue from the class level attained by their older brothers or sisters.
He further noted that the absence of nearby junior secondary schools in many nomadic settlements made it difficult for children, particularly girls, to continue their education after primary school.
The acting executive secretary said the commission was engaging state governments, development partners, philanthropists and non-governmental organisations to address the challenges.
He disclosed that Bauchi, Jigawa, Zamfara and Sokoto states had established agencies for nomadic education, while Niger State had created a ministry dedicated to nomadic education and pastoral affairs.
The disclosure was made at a conference themed, “Strengthening Inclusive and Flexible Education Pathways for Nomadic Pastoralists and Marginalised Learners in Africa.”
The conference also featured a partnership involving Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, Kano, and three African universities: the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya; Capital University, Somalia; and the University of Namibia, to establish a consortium aimed at expanding educational opportunities for marginalised learners across Africa.
