Child Abuse and its Implications for the Educational Sector in Nigeria

Child abuse has become a global problem that needs to be tackled if children are to be given the right to education and freedom. The issue of child abuse has been given serious attention in many parts of the world and Nigeria is not left out. Given this serious effort, one would have thought that this menace will not persist. However a look at the society shows that child abuse occurs not only at home but has found its way into the school system thus constituting a barrier to the attainment of sound educational development in the country. This paper discusses the prevalence of child abuse in the school and its impact on the educational development of the child. Based on the prevalence of abuses in the school, the author recommends that there should be public enlightenment programme and education to combat the mass ignorance on the acts that constitute abuse and to protect the Nigerian child against these abuses so as to benefit maximally from the education system.