HOUSEHOLD POVERTY, EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY AND SCHOOL PARTICIPATION IN NIGERIA: EVALUATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 1 AND 4, 2015–2024

Abstract

This paper studied Nigeria's household poverty, educational inequality and school participation and assessed the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 4 for the country from 2015 to 2024. This study was prompted by Nigeria's formal commitment to the 2030 Agenda amidst the persistence of multidimensional poverty, unequal educational opportunity, high out-of-school rate and weak learning outcome. A qualitative research design was used as only secondary evidence from the National Bureau of Statistics, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank and International Labour Organization and official Nigerian SDG reports and peer reviewed studies were used. Content and thematic analysis were used in the interpretation of the data. The guiding questions were: Is household poverty a direct and opportunity cost to school participation? Does educational inequality amplify the poverty-school participation dynamic through spatial, gender, socioeconomic and institutional disparities? Does SDG 1 and SDG 4 implementation make a partial contribution, but is insufficiently integrated? The results indicate that 28.7 percent of children between six and 15 years of age were out of school and 27.0 per cent were both poor and out of school. Exclusion is further heightened by child labour, the rural nature of residence, insecurity, low spending on education and a lack of access to learning. The paper argues that Nigeria will need to implement integrated social protection, more equitable financing of education, interventions at the local level, and more robust accountability mechanisms to link household welfare to attendance, retention, and completion of education and learning outcomes, for SDGs 1 and 4 to be achieved.