BY LAJU ARENYEKA

Educationists have said that the government and other stakeholders must give education top priority as it is the bedrock of every other profession.

Heralding this call is the management of Karo Group of Schools in Lagos. The Proprietor, Mrs. Caroline Ughamadu, in a chat with journalists recently, said: “Whether from the public or private quarters, more attention must be given to education, because it is the bedrock of every profession. Without education, other professions will not be.”

The Principal, Karo Favoured College, Mr. Mark Okoh, speaking on the challenges bedeviling the education sector said: “Many of our challenges have to do with policies that come up suddenly, and are quite difficult to meet up with. One of such is the curriculum that keeps changing. Sometimes, before you are able to settle down with one, another curriculum comes up.

“It’s very difficult for us because we do not have enough time to grasp one before we are instructed to change to another. These are some of the things that affect the system. The 6-3-3-4 system for instance has not been established to a point where we can say that it has worked. It looks good on paper, but in reality, it is not there. So, introducing another curriculum makes it more and more difficult for those of us in the system.”

The educationists also reacted to the controversial Oronsaye report advising the Federal Government to scrap the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. “If universities are allowed to carry out their own examinations,” Okoh said, “it will be a monopoly where admission goes to the highest bidder. The UTME serves as a bench mark, but left in the hands of the universities, it will become a private affair. Many of these universities will charge about N10, 000 to get exams done.

“Another issue to consider is that of admission crisis, we have at least 200 higher institutions in this country. But the issue is that there is too much importance attached to the university degree. On the other hand, the alternative institutions are not really helping matters because of the high fees they charge.

“In every society, education is the most important thing. I suggest that the polytechnics should be well equipped and polytechnic graduates should receive equal treatment with their counterparts from the university. If the government is ready to build universities in every local government in the country, then we can solve the admission crisis.