BY DAYO ADESULU

The problems bedeviling the education sector in Nigeria have been traced to our government nonchalant attitude to learn from countries which had similar education and economic challenges but solved their problems through quality education.

Mr  Ayo Oyoze Baje,  former Editorial Page Editor of the defunct Daily Times and member, Editorial Board of Independent Newspapers Ltd, lamented the decadence in the sector saying, Nigeria should be challenged that India, which was at par with us at independence has become the destination for medical tourism, patronised by our political bigwigs even with the slightest headache.

He noted that the same can be said of the Asian Tigers who have gone ahead to become the globe’s industrial hub. He pointed out that when the auto market was taken over by the more compact and fueling efficient cars from Asia in the 80s, the US government sent its scientists to understudy their revolutionary technology and learn from them but Nigeria never learn good things from other countries of the world.

Baje who spoke on the occasion of a book launch on: “How to be a Successful Student” held at  Reelmix Hall Eko FM, Ikeja said, the problems bedeviling the sector are many and worrisome as our government are not making concrete efforts to confront them headlong. He said our problem started when both the state and federal levels gave low budgetary allocation to the education sector.

File Photo: Cross section of students writing exam

He gave a shoking revelation that the in 2002 the figure of  high number of school aged children out of school was comparable to that of Bangladesh and some war torn countries, confirming the statistic of the Education Minister, Professor Ruqqayat Rufai that 17 million children of school age are presently out of school in Nigeria.

The Veteran journalist and popular public affairs analyst on television who slams the government over the low teacher to students/pupils ratio said: “Though the United Nations recommended one teacher to twenty-five students, ours in the region is between 80 and 100.”

He added that poor quality of teachers at both the primary and secondary level is one of the causative agents as at least 50 per cent of teachers engaged in Nigeria’s public and private educational institutions are unqualified and unprofessional. According to him, the result is that pupils are exposed to teachers who do not have basic literacy competency and who cannot prepare lesson notes; shallow in subject matter and poor in classroom management and controls.

“Many faculties of education in tertiary institutions virtually rely on force or compulsion to get fresh students as less than 2 per cent of JAMB candidates apply for courses in education. The situation of teachers and teaching profession in Nigeria contrast sharply with what obtains in other parts of the world where the teaching profession is regarded with honour and pride,” he said.

Baje who once taught as a classroom teacher for over two decade pointed out that poor remuneration of teachers is another area our government need to look into, stressing that teachers remuneration remain very poor. To secure a salary enhancement of any type, he noted that our government will have to wait until teachers embark on many month of strike action.

Quoting Professor Charles Aworh, Head Department of Food Technology, University of Ibadan and National President of Ibadan Grammer School, he said that what will rescue the nation’s education system is a return to boarding system adding that it would instill discipline, encourage harmonious co-existence and inculcate in the students the proper management of their time.

On our education plicy, he said our governments have been inconsistent slaming the policy flip-flops on education from 7-5-2-3/4 to 6-3-3-4 adding that with this, our education curriculum is deficient of entrepreneural studies which has led to the churning out of graduates job seekers instead of job creating citizens.

Consequently, he said is the mass exodus of Nigerian students to other countries with Ghana benefitting by a whopping sum of N160 billion in three tertiary institutions in 2012 alone adding:

“Worse, our leaders see nothing wrong with the huge capital flight to a smaller neighbouring country whose citizens jostled to send their children to our public universities as a symbol status back in the 70s and 80s.”

He suggested as a way forward that the government should as a matter of urgency declare a state of emergency in the education sector. His words: The time for blame is over. The period for buck passing has come and gone. All of us- government, school proprietors, school administrators and more so the students share in the blame for the redolent rot in our education system.

Though the UN recommended a budgetary allocation of 26 per cent, the best we have at the federal level is 11 per cent in 1983. If the administration of the defunct Western Region, as led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo could use 26 per cent of cocoa revenue to fund free education, why can’t our current political leaders use even more than that of our oil revenue for same?

Adequate funding of the education sector, proper monitoring of such funds, deployment of the political will by those in government, workable synergy from all the stakeholders, including the public and the private sectors, proprietors, principals, teachers and especially the students themselves will reduce the aforementioned problems and mitigate the scourge of examination failure which has become a national embarrassment.

To the governors of Lagos, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, Osun, Anambra, Imo, Niger, Jigawa and Kano States who are showing sincere concern for education development, I say, hold the beacon aloft and show our children the light out of the tunnel of mass ignorance and apathy.