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Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in Nigerianomadic community leaders, resulting notably in <strong>the</strong> establishment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> NCNE in 1989, whose job is tocoordinate provision <strong>of</strong> basic educational programmes and develop relevant curricula and materials fornomadic children (ibid.).One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> underlying tensions regarding nomadic schooling relates to its purpose, i.e. whe<strong>the</strong>r it is astep toward cultural assimilation or a way to assist nomads to engage more successfully on <strong>the</strong>ir ownterms with <strong>the</strong> wider social context (McCaffery et al. 2006).7.8.1 Challenges <strong>of</strong> providing education to nomadic communitiesProviding education to nomadic communities is challenging as <strong>the</strong>y tend to live in remote, difficult-toaccessplaces, moving around and crossing borders (local, state, and international), with livelihoods thatdepend heavily on children’s labour (Tahir et al. 2005; Usman 2006; Olateju 2010). In addition, <strong>the</strong>regular basic education curriculum <strong>of</strong> government schools is unsuited to <strong>the</strong>ir needs (ibid.), while schoolpractices can alienate <strong>the</strong>m fur<strong>the</strong>r (Usman 2006).7.8.2 Initiatives with nomadic communitiesKey NCNE initiatives have included mobile schools with collapsible classrooms, adaptation <strong>of</strong> curricula toincrease relevance, and <strong>the</strong> production <strong>of</strong> teaching materials in Fulfulde, <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r tongue <strong>of</strong> mostnomadic pastoralists (Tahir et al. 2005; Usman 2006). The mobile schools initiative, however, has beencriticised for initially being rushed into without consideration <strong>of</strong> issues such as teacher recruitment andM&E (Iro 2001). There is also a concern that fixed schools are inappropriately located in <strong>the</strong> moresparsely populated areas, away from <strong>the</strong> camp locations (Iro 2001). Ano<strong>the</strong>r major initiative includesinteractive radio and TV programmes, for which viewing rooms have been constructed (Tahir et al. 2005;Usman 2006). Fur<strong>the</strong>r details <strong>of</strong> research on such initiatives can be found in Section 9.7.Whatever <strong>the</strong> relative merits <strong>of</strong> particular programmes, <strong>of</strong>ficial statistics from <strong>the</strong> NCNE show thatenrolments have been increasing over <strong>the</strong> years: by 2011, <strong>the</strong>re were 500,000 students (44% female)attending around 3,100 nomadic pastoralist, farmer, and fisher schools, with <strong>the</strong> greatest concentrationin nor<strong>the</strong>rn Nigeria. These enrolment figures represent a significant increase in enrolments from400,000 in 2006 and just 193,000 in 2000. However, <strong>the</strong>re is still a significant gender gap as girls onlycomprise 44% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> intake.Despite <strong>the</strong> increase in enrolments, current numbers still represent a small proportion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> estimated3 million school-age nomadic children (Bah-Lalya et al. 2011), although crucially <strong>the</strong> figures do notinclude those for children attending regular government schools. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, a lack <strong>of</strong> data, weakcoordination, and inadequate financing mean that actual provision can vary substantially betweenlocations (Aderinoye et al. 2007).According to Tahir et al. (2005), nomadic schooling has helped improve completion rates. Usman (2006),however, disputes Tahir’s claim (1998, cited in Usman 2006) that nomadic education had increasedcompletion rates by up to 65 % for Fulani boys. She found no statistical confirmation in her research andmaintained that Fulani boys still had higher-than-average dropout rates and lower enrolment,attainment and completion statistics.In addition to nomadic schools, <strong>the</strong> NCNE reaches around 100,000 families through extension services,which include training on herd health management and fodder bank development, as well asencouraging community participation in local school management (NCNE 2012).Fur<strong>the</strong>r details on nomadic lifestyles and how <strong>the</strong>y interact with formal schooling are given in Section9.7.EDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 79
Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in Nigeria7.9 Public schooling for children with disabilitiesThe 2004 National Policy on Education states that ‘<strong>the</strong> education <strong>of</strong> children with special needs shall befree at all levels’ and that this will be FGN’s responsibility, which will encourage inclusive education,conduct regular censuses and monitoring <strong>of</strong> people with special needs, and provide special educationequipment and training (FME 2004a). Moreover, 2% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> FGN–UBE Intervention Fund is available tostates for projects aimed at supporting children with special needs (see Section 6.4.2).In practice, however, <strong>the</strong>re is no information available about how much <strong>the</strong> government spends onschooling for children with disabilities and little monitoring <strong>of</strong> how many disabled children <strong>the</strong>re are and<strong>the</strong> types <strong>of</strong> disabilities <strong>the</strong>y have (Lang and Upah 2008). Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong> ESSPIN-supported stateshave just started to ga<strong>the</strong>r data on children with disabilities in <strong>the</strong>ir EMIS returns, using <strong>the</strong> followingcategories: blind/visually impaired; physically challenged; hearing/speech impaired; and mentallychallenged. The 2011/12 state ASCs for each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ESSPIN-supported states reported numbers <strong>of</strong> pupilswith disabilities at around or below 1% <strong>of</strong> primary enrolments, although several states reported anincrease in <strong>the</strong> numbers <strong>of</strong> pupils with disabilities attending mainstream schools (ESSPIN 2013b; see alsoBox 7.3).Box 7.3 Success <strong>of</strong> a small grants scheme to special schools in Lagos StateAs part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Lagos Eko Secondary Education Project (www.lagosekoproject.org) – a partnershipbetween Lagos State and <strong>the</strong> World Bank – grants were given to 12 special needs schools that made asubstantial difference to learning for children with special needs. Increased use <strong>of</strong> Braille books ando<strong>the</strong>r special instructional resources enhanced <strong>the</strong>ir access to reading. In 2012, all nine visuallyimpaired students who sat for <strong>the</strong> BECE examination scored 100% in English, Maths and Science. Thisshowed a marked improvement from <strong>the</strong> baseline scores <strong>of</strong> 45%, 50% and 50% respectively in 2010. Itwas also noted that, for <strong>the</strong> first time in <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> school, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> visually impairedstudents gained admission into a university.Source: World Bank (2013)According to <strong>the</strong> 2010 NEDS (NPC and RTI International 2011), 99% <strong>of</strong> children had no disability.However, o<strong>the</strong>r data suggest this is a gross underestimation probably due, at least in part, to <strong>the</strong> stigmaattached to disability. For example, a survey <strong>of</strong> around 1,000 secondary school students concerning <strong>the</strong>irattitude to pupils with epilepsy found that around two-thirds would nei<strong>the</strong>r befriend nor play withsomeone who suffered from epilepsy (Ezeala-Adikaibe et al. 2013).In contrast, a survey by <strong>the</strong> Leprosy Mission <strong>of</strong> over 1,000 respondents across 30 towns and villages inKogi and Niger states found 37% <strong>of</strong> respondents suffered from visual impairments, 32% had mobilityissues, 15% were hearing impaired, and 9% were diagnosed with mental or learning difficulties (Smith2011). Over half had had no formal education (ibid.) and even among marginalised groups those withdisabilities find it particularly difficult to complete primary schooling and obtain sustainableemployment (Lang and Upah 2008).A DFID-funded scoping study jointly conducted by <strong>the</strong> Leonard Cheshire Foundation and <strong>the</strong> JointNational Association <strong>of</strong> Persons with Disabilities in Nigeria (Lang and Upah 2008) concluded thatmainstreaming inclusive education, with appropriately trained teachers, ra<strong>the</strong>r than having specialschools is <strong>the</strong> most cost-effective and sustainable way <strong>of</strong> educating children with disabilities. However,<strong>the</strong> same study noted that many children with disabilities were forced into special schools because <strong>of</strong> alack <strong>of</strong> funding and suitably trained staff to cope in mainstream schools (ibid.). Similarly, <strong>the</strong> evaluation<strong>of</strong> UNICEF’s CFS programme in Nigeria noted that:Most schools made an effort to reach out to enrol students with disabilities and <strong>the</strong>re seemed to be apositive attitude toward <strong>the</strong> provision <strong>of</strong> education for students with disabilities, but schools lacked <strong>the</strong>EDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 80
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