With many Nigerians opting for higher education abroad, the country is said to lose over N1.5 trillion to foreign education yearly, with Ghana, a fellow African nation, alone getting about N160 billion as tuition fees for the over 70,000 Nigerians studying there.
That encapsulates a knotty problem that is home grown.
Ebola deflects attention
But for the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) which thrust health care into a frenzy, education would probably have been another sector over which a state of emergency would have been declared by Nigeria.
The problems are legion, and the solutions proffered by the government and stakeholders are acrimonious.
None of the multiple stakeholders – federal and state governments, Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), regulators, parents – is satisfied with suggested solutions.
The government claimed it had effectively contained the capacity of Ebola to spread after Liberian Patrick Sawyer brought the virus from Liberia to Nigeria.
But the NUT kicked against the government’s directive that all primary and secondary schools reopen on Monday, September 22, instead of the original Wednesday, October 15 resumption date announced earlier.
Agnes Iheme, who teaches in a private secondary school in Surulere, Lagos, said “the NUT is not against the resumption of schools. What we are saying is that given the contagious nature of Ebola, school authorities are not yet prepared to handle the many technical issues involved in monitoring the spread of the epidemic among thousands of pupils.
“Certain things need to be sorted out and something put in place so that no school or teacher or pupil is endangered. We are only custodians of other peoples’ children while those children are in our school.”
More of the challenges facing the school system came to the education summit recently organised by Kings College, Lagos Old Boys Association (KCOBA).
Attendees included the national executives of KCOBA; former federal Permanent Secretary, Philip Asiodu; Etisalat Mobile Communication Network Chairman, Hakeem Bello-Osagie, who is also KCOBA President.
Others included former federal Permanent Secretary, Alison Ayida; Eko Hospital proprietor, Sunny Kuku; and Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Chief Executive Officer, Mustapha Chike-Obi, who represented the government.
Problem with the education system
Speaker after speaker bemoaned the fate of education in the country. First to speak was former Ekiti State Governor, Segun Oni, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Half of Nigerians today are illiterate, according to latest World Bank ranking report. Three quarters of the world’s population are illiterate, of which 10 per cent are from poor countries, and Nigeria being among them,” he said.
“Considering our population of about 170 million people, our per capita in illiteracy rating globally tops any other in the developing countries.”
In Oni’s view, the problem with the education system, especially at primary and secondary levels, include curriculum that no longer meets social and development needs, poor inspection of teachers, poor standard, shortage of quality manpower, graduate unemployment due to poor alignment between schools and industry, and over emphasis on paper qualification.
As it was in the old days, by Asiodu
Asiodu lamented the dearth of quality education of the type they had in the 1940s and 1950s.
He recalled that “we were able to go from our secondary schools with our higher school certificates or GCE (General Certificate of Education) Advanced Level certificates straight to Oxford or Cambridge or other leading universities in Britain and the Commonwealth and to Ivy League universities in the United States.
“We performed competitively with the home students and students from other parts of the world.
“In the colonial and immediate post-colonial period, primary and secondary schools were few, but they were well funded, and equipped and strictly monitored for standards by government.”
However, there was a rapid increase in the number of secondary schools after 1951.
“After the civil war, with the multiplication of states, each demanding its own unity schools, the whole concept of unity schools fashioned by the federal government to enhance national integration became grossly mismanaged.
“They grew in number to 102, were poorly funded in tandem with the deteriorating quality of governance, and as such many today are certainly not centres of excellence,” Asiodu said.
He traced the genesis of the rot to the take over by the government of all schools.
“Soon after the civil war in 1970, the federal government was persuaded that it should take over all schools from the missions and voluntary agencies. The government, federal and states, now took over all responsibility for the capital and recurrent cost of the entire school system, except for one or two private kindergarten and primary schools.
“The secondary schools, which were mainly missions’, community, and private, were now denied the great capital and recurrent funds and the very significant unpaid manpower input which used to flow into the system from the missions and voluntary agencies.”
The severe decline in the quality of education is not only under funding, Asiodu stressed, but include inadequate production of qualified teachers, and decline in their status and remuneration.
Fundamentals
There was a near consensus at the summit that Nigeria has enormous resources to produce world class manpower.
Asiodu stated that less than 5 per cent of the population “are so very much better off” in standard of living and quality of life than the vast majority.
The Constitution prescribes education as a basic human right, he stressed. And “are we all therefore, and the government in particular, not morally obliged to ensure that every child is given good quality education up to the age of 18?
“If we approach the question from the political and moral angle, we are reminded immediately of the enormous natural resource endowment of Nigeria which, if properly exploited, will make it one of the richest countries in the world.”
Asiodu reiterated that advanced nations attained rapid growth and development because they placed a priority on education, the only key to unlock potentials.
Revelations
“Our population today is about 170 million. Children and youth between six and 22 years old account for over 30 per cent. Over 80 per cent of this sector is under 18 years old. The Constitution promises them education as of right, education to prepare them for a decent productive life,” Asiodu added.
“By 2035, it is estimated that the population would be around 250 million.
“Ideally, the country should be providing now good, adequate facilities for international standard education and skills acquisition for 40 million children and youth every year, projected over the next 20 years to, say, 50 million.
“Using normal ratios of teachers and instructors to students, we should be talking of producing trained and motivated teachers/instructors. Then consider the capital cost and maintenance charges of classrooms, laboratories, theatres, sporting facilities, et cetera.”
Promises by APC
Oni said half of Nigeria’s population is illiterate, quoting the latest World Bank report, which also disclosed that three quarters of the world are illiterate and 10 per cent of such are from developing countries.
He promised that the APC will pursue an education system that caters for the future. “Education is on the concurrent list of the Constitution and so we would ensure quality control standard and see that policies are well enforced.”
He also pledged that an APC government will initiate policy that would include teacher training, proper certification, motivation, and remuneration.
“We would run an educational system that caters for the future and will reintroduce the TC2 or Teachers Certificate to make teaching competitive at primary school level.
“Science education must be encouraged. Research and development must be accorded serious attention because the present system is not doing much in research and development.
“There is also need to direct curriculum to impart skills-based education. A degree that is awarded in any one university must be as strong and competitive with the one from anywhere.”
PDP’s absence
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not make any presentation.
Obi’s high points in Anambra
Former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, has received several local and international awards for attaining great feats in education.
During his tenure, the state on more than two occasions came first in the overall performance by secondary school pupils in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE).
He was the second Governor after Babatunde Fashola of Lagos to return mission schools to their owners.
Summiteers heard from Obi how he ran the “Back To Missionaries” school system. “The first thing I noticed was that the inspectorate units were not working. No one monitored the teachers or supervised what they did, even if some did not come to work, it was like nobody cared or took record.
“I started by paying off the backlog of unpaid teachers’ salaries. Then it became clear to me that the state was spending so much and getting little value in terms of quality education.
“This was because there were so many ‘toll gates’ everywhere – from the ministry down the whole civil service chain. Then I discussed with the state House of Assembly and stakeholders and we arrived at a compromise: it makes sense to return these schools to their owners.
“We did this and it resulted in effective supervision to the extent that those teachers in public schools, because they now saw how promptly the salaries of the missions were paid, and other incentives, wanted to be posted to these mission schools.
“We paid the teachers in those mission schools while the missions managed and supervised school administration. The problem of ‘toll gate’ collection that plagued the budget of the education ministry and the disbursement of SUBEB (Subsidy on Universal Basic Education) was no longer there.
“School enrolment improved. Teaching was regular without interruption over teachers’ strike and Anambra pupils’ performance at WAEC improved.”
Quality versus the numbers
Chike-Obi advocated that “it is good to be the best student in an average school than be an average student in the best school. It is better we focus on the demand side of graduates than the supply side.”
He recalled that in the past, “while you were still in school, you were poached by employers,” stressing that it is the quality of graduates that matters, not the number of class enrolment or the number of schools.