Abstract: This study examined the efforts and possibilities of providing basic education for all school age Nigerian children. The most recent of these efforts is the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme launched in 1999 by the Federal Government of Nigeria. This study examined the state of literacy of Nigerian children and identified the various obstacles to the acquisition of Basic Education for all school age children in the country. The attempt to overcome these obstacles and achieve the global goal of basic education for all in 2015 calls for the commitment of the parents. The parents would need a change of orientation to realise that their roles in the education of their children should go beyond the level of providing feeding, writing materials and uniforms to that of controlling late enrolment, absenteeism, withdrawal, gender disparities and poor attitudes to education. They would have to assist in the development and maintenance of school infrastructures, formation of functional Parents-Teachers Association and monitoring of their children’s school work after school hours. For the parents to have a genuine change of orientation and function in the above dimensions, there is need for the professional intervention of Guidance Counsellors. This study is, therefore, concluded by soliciting for the provision of community Guidance and Counselling services that would make the parents realise their roles in making the UBE a reality, particularly in the rural areas of Nigeria where the density of illiterate children is still high.