Education is the basic requirement for success of democracy and progress of any country. Universalization of primary education is a provision to provide free educational opportunities to all children of the society irrespective of creed and sex.Education in Niger like that of other developing nations, particularly in the Sahelian region of Africa, faces challenges from poverty and poor access to schools. Niger has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world.
BACKGROUND
Compulsory provision of Universal Primary Education is an extremely modern concept. No solid efforts were made till the beginning of the 20th century.Primary education in Niger is compulsory between the ages of seven and fifteen. The primary school enrollment and attendance rates are low, particularly for girls. Some figures suggest that in 1997, the gross primary enrollment rate was 29.3%, and in 1996, the net primary enrollment rate was 24.5%. However reliable statistics vary because there is no definitive count of the number of school-age children. About 60% of children who finish primary schools are boys, as the majority of girls rarely attend school for more than a few years. Children are often forced to work rather than attend school, particularly during planting or harvest periods.
Since independence many steps have been taken and different commissions and committees have given suggestions to achieve universalization of Primary Education. But it is still far from the hope and the national target. Traditionally, parents have been reluctant to send their children to school. In the 1960s, the government sent the army to rural villages to compel school attendance and villagers hid their children, fearful of what would happen to them. More recently parents have failed to register their children's births to avoid later school enrollment. Head teachers, who are responsible for recruitment in