Major Challenges Nigerian Children Faced In 2020

One of the major challenges that affected children in 2020 was the outbreak of Corona virus. The COVID-19 pandemics, is a new virus, which had caused  huge havoc across the globe.
While the coronavirus forced schools globally to switch to online learning, in developing countries like Nigeria, millions of children without remote access were left behind.
On 19 March,2020,the Federal Ministry of Education approved school closures in response to the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic revolutionised digital and online education globally  but children in Nigerian government schools, rural and underserved communities were left behind as they are not equipped to adapt or transit to the new methods of learning.
The pandemic has unmasked substantial inequities in the education sector. One major issue that may stem from this inequality is that these children who cannot keep up with their peers because of inaccessibility to digital tools may never catch up and will continue to feel the effect of the gap long after the pandemic is over.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to cause disruption across the globe, children and young people were joined by stars and leaders to recreate a better post-pandemic world on World’s Children’s Day, 20 November 2020 organized by UNICEF.
UNICEF stated that people all over the world should volunteer with them to help them reach the children and young people in greatest need. They enjoined people to help change the world for children.
They encouraged children and young people to speak out by voicing their problems to make a difference and take a stand.
Here in Rivers State, as a follow up, the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike directed that state-owned broadcast stations through the Rivers State Ministry of Education commence online learning of different subjects by pupils and students throughout the lockdown, also state-owned higher institutions to commence the use of virtual classrooms.
It was a step in the right direction, but there were challenges experienced by the children and young people.
One, some parts of the state and many communities lacked regular electricity supply that meant that children could not follow the curriculum during the coronavirus crisis .
For the higher institutions, many suffered modem malfunctions, partial network receptions and laptop crash which led to poor learning quality.
Another challenge that affected children in 2020, is the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. According to reports, one in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. About 10.5 to 13.2 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school. This is the highest in the world. Most of these children are out of school while some have never been to school.
Nigerian children are also vulnerable to a wide range of abuses and harmful traditional practices. Till date, only 23 of 36 states have adopted the National legal framework for child protection, A Child Rights Act 2003.
A recent survey showed that 6 out of 10 children reported have suffered one or more forms of violence before reaching 18 years of age with 70 percent of those experiencing multiple accidents of violence. The country has the highest number of child brides in Africa.

By: Ibinabo Ogolo