Abstract
In Nigeria, various factors such as ineffective leadership, school failure, breakdown in family
affiliations, conflicts and terrorism have thrown many young learners into difficult economic
circumstances. These learners often engage in business activities such as street hawking and bus
conducting in order to make money to feed, pay school charges and support their families. This
abuses the rights of the children, exposes them to hazards and reduces the time they spend
participating in school. Yet, many of the children do not make profit that is enough to change their
economic situations and thus, remain poor. This paper proposes a strategic response to mitigate the
situation of these school children involved in business activities (SCIBA). The paper presents a
framework that can be used to develop good quality business education programme for the children
based on the literature. The framework also includes the delivery of the programmes through
Interactive Social Media Instruction, a model of the Interactive radio instruction. The main objective is
to help school children involved in hazardous business activities to profitably undertake child-friendly
economic activities that preserve their dignity and enhance their entrepreneurial aptitude while
allowing them to participate fully in school. This proposal suggests a move away from the current
strategy that involves “chasing” and “arresting” the SCIBA to a new approach that involves gathering,
educating and guiding them. It requires effective collaboration among a complex and interconnected
group of stakeholders - governments, policy makers, planners, educators, parents/guardians.
Keywords: School children, business activities, quality, business education, interactive social media
instruction, interactive radio instruction
Publication Date: 2018-12-06