Education is a basic human right and it is fundamental to human and national development, and to determining the future of children.

Yet some parents in Borno State, have allowed their children to skip school grades, creating a huge gap in acquiring knowledge and putting success in the quality of education in the region at risk.

RNI reporter Nana Khadija Mustapha spoke to Lawan Bukar Mustapha, an educationist at the Shehu Abubakar-Ibn Garbai Mega School in Maiduguri, about the effects of skipping grades just to graduate early.

He said the knowledge a pupil was supposed to acquire was denied because of the gap created by skipping grades.

“In the old days this would not have been tolerated. But nowadays parents are not strict enough about ensuring their children are disciplined and took their education seriously. Some parents even interfered in school management decisions.”

Mustapha said there was a time when a teacher had beaten him at school. He ran home to report the incident to his father. But, instead of consoling him, his dad also gave him a beating and sent him back to school. “I never repeated the same mistake again.”

Parents should determine the ages of their children before enrolling them into schools.

“The maximum age for enrolling a nursery pupil is four and the maximum for primary one is seven,” he said.

Knowing the alphabet and being able to read were not the only requirements children needed. The capability of a pupil should be considered before skipping a grade.

“Some parents came to me with their child who they claimed was eight years old and requested I enrol him into primary 4, but I declined because just by looking at the child he was nowhere near the age they claimed.”

Mustapha said the issue happened in the nursery, primary and secondary levels, causing gaps in the education system and creating problems down the line.

“Secondary pupils write a senior secondary school examination before deciding what class they are ready to join. If they have skipped grades, they often cannot cope. If they secure admission to a university, they cannot keep up with the new system of study.

He said the issue was concerning because it contributed to production of “quacks” in various professional fields.

• According to frequently asked education questions on Google:

Basic education brings growth and development to the young ones’ intellectual capacity as well as their morals, attitudes and how they relate to those around them. Every child is entitled to have a qualitative and sound education for a more promising prospect.

Education helps to boost a country’s economic growth by providing efficient, competent and skilled manpower that affects a country’s economic development through creativity, productivity and innovations of new ideas that would overall bring improvement in all the sectors of the economy.

Education raises people’s productivity and creativity and promotes entrepreneurship and technological advances. In addition it plays a very crucial role in securing economic and social progress and improving income distribution.