Nasarawa to Prosecute Parents Who Fail to Enrol Children as State Launches Major Education Reforms
The Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) has announced that parents who refuse to enrol their school-age children will face legal action, marking one of the state’s strongest moves yet to curb the rising number of out-of-school children.
The decision was made public at an education summit in Lafia, where NSUBEB Chairman Kassim Muhammad-Kassim said the state is rolling out an aggressive sensitization campaign across all 13 local government areas to remind parents that basic education is compulsory under the law.
He warned that any parent who continues to withhold a child from school would be prosecuted in line with existing educational regulations.
The announcement comes as the state launches sweeping reforms to strengthen the basic education system. Authorities have identified chronic teacher shortages, dilapidated facilities, diversion of school furniture, and administrative irregularities as major obstacles to quality learning.
NSUBEB has therefore redeployed over a thousand trained teachers who had been occupying administrative roles back into classrooms, and the state government is preparing to engage more qualified teachers to fill long-standing manpower gaps, particularly in rural areas.
Beyond staffing, the government has begun distributing thousands of new classroom chairs after earlier investigations revealed that many pieces of government-supplied furniture had been diverted or sold by school officials, leaving pupils to sit on floors.
The state has also moved to protect school environments by partnering with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to provide security in public primary schools.
To ensure parents across the state receive accurate information about compulsory schooling, NSUBEB has acquired mini-buses for community outreach, targeting remote villages, nomadic settlements and vulnerable groups such as almajiri children.
The sensitization effort is expected to run parallel with enforcement, as the government insists no child should be denied the right to basic education.
These reforms come on the heels of a renewed national push for universal basic education, strengthened by a recent court decision affirming that every Nigerian child is legally entitled to free and compulsory schooling.
Nasarawa’s government also recently established an Education Development Trust Fund to support long-term financing for teacher training and school infrastructure.
While the new measures could significantly reduce the state’s out-of-school population and improve learning conditions, implementation will demand careful, fair enforcement and sustained funding. Community cooperation will be critical, especially in areas where poverty, cultural practices or insecurity have historically kept children away from classrooms.
Nonetheless, the government maintains that the reforms are necessary if the state is to guarantee educational access and improve future outcomes for its children.
