THE ROLES OF GOVERNMENT IN PROMOTING SCHOOL ENROLMENT AND RETENTION IN NIGERIA FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

Abstract

Education is widely adjudged as a tool for individual and national development. As
such, it is a major responsibility of the Nigerian government to pay proper attention
to the sector for the purpose of ensuring quality education in the country. Therefore,
this paper outlines the roles, functions, and responsibilities of government in
promoting mass school enrolment and retention particularly for the purpose of
achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achievement of national
development in general. This paper also discusses some causes of low school
enrolment and retention which include; poverty, lack of interest in education,
teachers’ lackadaisical attitude, broken down or poor school facilities, irrelevant
teaching methods and curriculum, gender-biased content and incessant strike actions
among many other factors. The paper concludes that proper financing of the school
system, prompt payment of teachers salaries, provision of functional school facilities
and quality teaching resources, provision of functional guidance and counselling
services in school, payment of stipend to girl-pupils, and the proper utilization of the
school feeding programme are some of the roles which the government must play to
promote school enrolment and retention so as to launch Nigeria in the right direction
towards achieving education for all its citizens. Among the recommendations is the
implementation of the UNESCO recommendation of 26% budgetary allocation to
education.