In the late 90s and early in the new millennium the American slang, “No child left behind” was quite popular. While some would see it as a verdict on the past, it was actually a forward-looking goal that has been misconstrued as a slogan. It sets out to accomplish precisely what the expression connotes.

In other words, it calls on all stakeholders especially in the Education sector to ensure that no child is left behind in the provision of quality education. This goal should be the desire of every civilized society. The US government policy on education was detailed, deliberate and well-focused and the government did everything possible to ensure that every child was given the opportunity to enjoy quality education, free at times and quite often subsidized, even in Catholic schools where many students especially those from poor home also had access to meals daily.

In Nigeria today, Basic education is said to be the right of every child, yet driving round our cities, one cannot but be appalled at the sight of numerous children who should be in school yet are on the road begging for alms or roaming the dangerous alleys of our neighbourhoods, with no sense of direction and no conscious adults to direct them. 

One would have expected the Ministry for Children Affairs to round them up, put them in homes where they can be catered for and turned into responsible citizens of the nation. Yet, such well-intentioned gestures is fraught with danger as the victims, mostly of a Muslim background can become fodder in what may soon become religious war. It is not a secret that many almajris crowd our driveways today and many are essentially from the North, even when they were born here, their major identity is that they are of Northern extraction and are often adherents of the Islamic religion. These children are essentially left behind and soon they will become unwittingly, dangerous instruments in the hands of touts and politicians. Yet, these would not have happened if they had been given quality education.

Many children are left behind because our school environment is not conducive for learning. Many government schools are filled with dilapidated buildings, with no desk and chair for pupils and students to use. The school compound often look abandoned war zones than learning environment.

With lack of trained teachers, many parents have taken their children out of public schools and enrolled them in fee paying private schools. Yet the economy has grown so bad that the purchasing power of many families means that these students must drop out of school and pursue other things. Our children are being left behind in the procurement of basic education. When we move to the realm of quality education, the truth is that only the rich are able to access quality education and in this age of Artificial Intelligence, many children and adults have no reasonable hope of becoming skilled in the skills necessary to function in a world governed by AI.

Government cannot make policy about education if she is not ready to fund it. Government at all levels must partner with credible stakeholders to provide quality and affordable education to the masses. Basic education today must equip students with skills necessary to navigate the world increasingly being ruled y AI powered machines.

Yet, nothing seems to be in place in virtually all Government Primary and Secondary schools. Some private schools have semblance of computer labs, with few able to venture into robotics. Yet these students are exposed to AI tools and programmes on the internet with their lives irrevocably changed in the progress. Yet, there is no system in place to guide them walk through this labyrinth.

Our children are already left behind, but we can change course before it is too late. We can sow the seed of a better future now and help prepare them for a robust engagement with the world of tomorrow that may not be clement to the ill prepared.

Consequently, our educational policies must change. It must become proactive and not reactive, intentional, and not haphazard, goal oriented and not cosmetic, critical, and engaging not the parroting caricature of a system that we currently have in place. The educational system that we need must be able to produce solutions to the myriads of problems plaguing us today, but more importantly, it must equip our children to face the challenges that will surely come and one that today’s education has not been designed to tackle.

We are already latecomers at this game of life, but we should not allow ourselves to be held back the more. To ensure that no child is left behind is doable and it is entirely in our hands. Our leaders and policy makers must commit their energy and the resources of the nation to accomplish this task, otherwise the pains of slavery and colonization will be child’s play compared to the retardation and deprivation that will be suffered for not having the skills to live in world running on AI.