Implementation of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Policy on Equality of Access to School and the Crisis of Out-of-School Children in Nigeria

Abstract This paper examined the implementation of the UBE policy on equality of access to school to ascertain if it is responsible for the variations in rate of out-of-school children among the geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Evaluative research design was adopted for the study. Two research questions were posed to guide the study. Purposive simple random sampling procedure was used to select 7,269 respondents as sample. Primary and secondary data were used to support sources of data collection for the study. A structured questionnaire was designed to elicit information from the respondents. Percentage and Mean were used in the data analysis. With respect to the first research question the results showed that there were remarkable differences among the rural and urban dwellers as well as among the geopolitical zones on the walking time and kilometer distance to the nearest school. With respect to the second research question, the results showed that children in the south had greater access to good classrooms and schools than those in the north. It therefore concludes that the UBE policy on equality of access to school has not been effectively implemented and is responsible for the variations in rate of out-of-school children among the geopolitical zones in the country. The study recommends that: more schools and classroom blocks should be provided closer to the children across the federation but especially in the north to make accessibility easier to the children; the existing ones and the new ones to be provided should be well equipped for conducive and effective learning; more attention should be paid to securing school children by ensuring that well-armed security personnel are deployed to and around the schools and should escort the children at least to and from close distances to their schools and homes to ensure their safety; alternative schools and classrooms should be adopted in vulnerable places and where schools are not within nearby distances to the communities and settlements.