Ever so often, even in the midst and outcry over poor leadership in Nigeria, a leader occasionally comes up with a policy or programme that stands out from the pack, offering hope, as the case may be. One of such laudable programmes I have seen in recent years is the model schools concept initiated by Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, the outgoing governor of Rivers State. As part of his desire to transform education in Rivers, Amaechi, a few years ago, introduced what he called model school system in the state. As enunciated by him, the model schools were to operate at no cost to the students. They were to run as mixed boarding schools where feeding and tuition would be free. For that purpose, contract for the construction of 12 model schools in the state were awarded. They were the first of 24 model schools to be built across the state.
When the idea of the model schools was first mooted and by the time it crystallised into elegant structures with
well-equipped classrooms and beautiful environment, the initial doubt that usually greets many a government’s policies in Nigeria soon gave way to admiration. It’s a wonderful idea come true, giving girls and boys of different backgrounds, even way beyond the dreams of many, the opportunity of attending world class schools for free. Oprah Winfrey, the African American media mogul, who, as a humanitarian gesture, built a school for girls in South Africa worth over $40 million some years ago, in fulfilment of a promise she made to Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid hero, while talking about the school in an interview, shortly after its commissioning, said: “This is the kind of school I would most want to attend.”
Her view came amid questions by some South Africans on the huge cost of building the school. In a country with a considerable poverty level, some people wondered whether the money spent in building the school wouldn’t have served better purpose were it shared as aid to thousands of South African women. But Oprah’s view of her school shows her mindset. On matters of education, only the best is good enough. It’s either the best quality or nothing; no compromise, no shortcomings.
I got a similar feeling myself two years ago when I visited one of the model schools built by Amaechi’s administration called the Ambassador Nnne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School located at Eleme Local Government Area of the state. I visited the school as part of a team of education assessors and was happy about what I saw: an impressive, co-educational school complex, with sports facilities that were, and are still being managed by Educomp Solutions Limited, an Indian company. As we learnt, the school was commissioned in 2012 by the Rivers State government and according to Shantaram Hegdekatte, Educomp’s chief executive officer, both the tuition and feeding for students of the residential school were free. Educomp as a company emphasises the use of digital tools (computer) and software, rather than chalk and blackboard, as teaching materials. Hegdekatte informed us that admission into the school was based on merit, not connection.
Looking at the environment, Oprah’s words came to mind: “This is the kind of school I would most want to attend.”
I was not the only one impressed; my colleagues were, too. That visit led me to keep a tab on the model schools concept in Rivers and that was how I got to know that, of the 12 schools so far constructed, only one of them, which is Ambassador Nnne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School, had been utilised for the purpose for which they were set up. All others, despite having been completed, lie fallow.
Why? Sources say it has to do with paucity of fund.
Feelers have it that, given the dwindling revenue of the state, as indeed other states in Nigeria, owing to the shortfall in oil revenue for the country, the Amaechi administration, which bears responsibility for the free tuition and feeding, was no longer keen to continue with its model school agenda, as doing so would mean spending more money at a time of cash crunch. So the schools lie fallow. They’ve been so in the last one year and with no sign that the story could change for good. And also worrying is the fact that the tenure of the man who initiated the project ends on May 29 (in less than a week from now), thereby leaving the fate of the schools in limbo.
Given Amaechi’s imminent exit, what then becomes of the model schools programme? Should Rivers students who wish to enjoy top class education then wait for the days when the revenue profile of the state will improve to know whether what obtains at Ambassador Nnne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School will reach them? And given that a new governor of a different party, who may not share in Amaechi’s laudable vision, barring unforeseen circumstances, will succeed him on May 29, do we have reasons to fear? Is there an option to the situation?
I think there is.
Although the Amaechi administration conceived the model schools to be free, but given the apparent financial challenge of the moment, I think one of the best options available to the incoming administration, both as a way to recoup money so far spent in building the schools and increase the revenue of the state, is to concession them to private investors to manage. Of course, the terms, should that happen, could change from the original free food, tuition policy, but the standard should remain, even if at a cost. What this means is that private investors would be at liberty to operate the schools on their own terms, including charging fees, provided they make returns to government. Education, like everybody knows, is expensive. The free tuition and feeding at Nnne Furo Kurubo Model is free only to the beneficiaries; it isn’t so for the government which bears the cost.
While many desire free things, mainly because of the money they would save as a result, there are many others who wouldn’t mind paying for it, if the quality is good. There are countless private schools around the country, and despite the outcry by some about cost, it hasn’t stopped them from flourishing, or even the number from increasing. Why is it so? It’s about quality, or perceived quality. It is the same quality that leads many Nigerian families to decide to sponsor their children to foreign universities or other higher institutions abroad. We used to hear of exodus of Nigerians to foreign universities, but travelling abroad for secondary education is increasingly becoming a norm for some families also owing to the generally poor state of facilities in our secondary schools.
So bad is the state of many public secondary schools in Nigeria (to talk of just that), that many who can’t afford the cost in Europe, America or Asia now head to African countries like Ghana and Kenya. Estimates suggest that about 500,000 young Nigerians depart Nigeria for studies abroad annually. This translates to huge foreign exchange for countries of their choice, and loss of employment for Nigerian teachers. It’s like manufacturing itself. When you depend on foreign goods, the local industries suffer. Currently, 110 Nigerians and 17 indian teachers are employed to work at Nnne Furo Kurubo, and these teachers had to undergo a competence test supervised by Educomp where the results showed that many Nigerian teachers that sat for the test had no business applying for the job, as they lacked what it takes to teach. It’s part of the evidence of the rot that had enveloped Nigerian school system, and this didn’t start under Goodluck Jonathan’s reign.
My take is that if companies like Educomp can provide world class education in Nigeria with the support of the government, fewer people will travel abroad and more Nigerians will get jobs, while the transfer of skills between expatriate workers and their Nigerian counterparts will be assured. If, given such synergy, more and more Nigerian teachers get well trained, it could one day lead to sending the Indians and other expatriates back to where they came from.
So, instead of allowing the newly-built schools to continue to lie waste, shouldn’t the government think of concessioning them to private investors to run? That way, the investors would be adding to the revenue profile of the state through the taxes they would pay to the government. That’s a better option, I think, than allowing the schools to lie waste with the possibility of ending up as abandoned projects, which has been the bane of our collective existence as a nation.
• Uwalaka is a public affairs analyst.
