EDUCATION, GENDER AND CHILD-RIGHTS: SALIENT ISSUES IN POST-MDG YEARS IN ADO-ODO/OTA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Promoting and improving quality education is one of the core missions of the United Nations at ensuring sustainable future, hence the slogan: Change towards a better quality of life starts with education. This paper examined the place of education, gender and child rights within the current status of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Ado Odo/Ota local government of Ogun State, Nigeria. Questionnaire and interviews were used as instruments of data collection. The population for this survey were school children between ages 7 and 18 in both private and public schools. A sample size of 1000 respondents was drawn from the population out of which 976 responded effectively to the questions. The findings revealed that education and child rights remain in a precarious state in the local government. There was a limited awareness about child rights among children in primary schools and secondary schools; teaching materials and instructors were grossly inadequate in many of the schools sampled and basic needs such as water and electricity were unavailable. It was also observed that the number of enrolled male children in schools is 24% higher than the females. These challenges should be put into consideration when formulating policies for education in developing countries. There is therefore the need to prioritize education, especially female education, as well as child rights in general in the local government through adequate funding, investment in teachers and creation of awareness about the rights of the child