Out-of-School Boy Child as an Impediment to the Achievement of UBE Enrolment Goal in Jos North LGA

Abstract

This paper investigated the impact of out-of-school boy-child on the achievement of UBE enrollment goal in Jos North LGA. Three research questions were formulated to facilitate the findings of the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study. The population of this study consisted of consist of 2320 comprising of 223 teachers, 2000 out-school boy-children, 96 Principals and 1 Educational Secretary in Jos North Local Government Area. The sample for the study consisted of 100 respondents consisting of 60 out –of- school boy-children, 29 UBE teachers, 10 principals, 1 education secretaries in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. Purposive sampling technique was used to draw the sample of the study. Two questionnaire instruments were developed by the researcher. These instruments were Causes of Out-of-school Children Questionnaire (COSCQ) and Assessment of Out-of-school Children and UBE Goal Questionnaire (AOSCUGQ). The COSCQ was used to collect data from the out-of-school boy-children and the UBE teachers while the AOSCUGQ was used to collect information from  the UBEC staff, Principals and Education Secretaries.  Descriptive statistics such as mean score and percentages were used in analyzing the data collected in the study. The findings of the study revealed that out-of-school boy-children have great impact on the achievement of UBE enrollment goals in Jos North Local Government Area. The high rate of out-of-school  boy-children has negated the achievement of UBE enrollment goals. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that there is need for concise effort on the part of the government on the need to educate and enlighten parents on the need to enroll their school-age children in the UBE programme. Also, vibrant policies should be formulated by the government to assimilate all out-of-school boy children into the UBE programme.

Keywords: Out-of-School, Boy-Child, Achievement, UBE, Enrolment, Goals