CHILD'S RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: CHALLENGES AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

Abstract

The paper examined children's right to education in Nigeria as well as analysed the challenges facing the implementation of children's right to education. This was with a view to understanding the challenges militating against children's right to education in Nigeria using a purposive sample of 120 pre-school/nursery teachers selected across three local governments from three out of the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. The study utilized primary and secondary sources of data. Primary data were collected through the administration of questionnaire on the selected teachers to elicit information on the challenges facing the implementation of children rights to education in Nigeria while information on the extent of implementation of the child rights to education were generated from secondary data. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that, Child Rights and Protection Policy as entrenched in the Child Rights Act and signed into law in 2003, is poorly practiced, weak1y planned and implemented, such that, inhuman treatments are been meted on the children on daily basis, while the Child Rights Act law seem powerless and has failed to protect the children. The findings further revealed that, despite the importance of the CRA for the protection of the children who are the leaders of tomorrow, only Twenty four out of the Thirty Six states of the federation has so far implemented it. The study concluded that, in order to guarantee the future of Nigeria its future leaders must be well trained and must be lovers of Children's Education.