National Social Register as a Veritable Tool for Social Protection and Educational Development: Evidence from Katsina-Ala Local Government Area, Benue State, Nigeria.

Abstract:

The study assessed the impact of National Social Register as a veritable tool for social protection and educational development: Evidence from Katsina-Ala Local Government Area, Benue State, Nigeria. The study adopted cross-sectional survey design. The population of the study consisted of 43360 households. A sample of 396 respondents were used for the study using multistage sampling techniques. Questionnaire alongside interview were employed for data collection. Data was analyzed using charts, frequencies, percentages and chi-square test. The findings of the study show that 6752 households were captured in 9 council wards that were captured in NSR out of the 12 council wards in the study area. Then, 439 households benefited from social protection programs inform of cash transfer. The study established that social protection intervention programs that the poor and vulnerable households benefited from significantly improve their level of income. Furthermore, the findings of the study also show that social protection intervention programs that the poor and vulnerable households captured in NSR benefited from has significant impact on the educational progress of their children in the study area. The study concluded that National Social Register (NSR) is a veritable tool for social protection and educational development in the study area. Therefore, the study recommended that governments at all levels in Nigeria should commit their resources in strengthening the process of building the NSR given that accurate data is necessary for social protection programs, development policies and planning as well as educational development.