By Providence Ayanfeoluwa

To address the many challenges in the education sector in Nigeria, there is a need for improved transparency and accountability, said Mr. Ubong Inwang, an academia.

He added that corruption within the nation’s educational sector will continue to foster poverty, inequality and mediocrity if left unchecked.

Inwang said this in a chat, stressing that corruption in education creates a cycle of mediocrity and inequality.

His words: “When resources are siphoned, schools and universities cannot provide quality education. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds suffer the most, as they rely on public institutions for affordable education to transform their fortunes. “Consequently, these unfortunate individuals fail to get proper education and end up in a medicore stage for life or delve into crimes.

“On the other hand, equitable utilization of resources for school infrastructure, scholarships, staff welfare, strengthens the educational system and by extension other aspects of the nation’s economy.

“Therefore, transparency should guide decision-making processes in the sector such as staff promotions, project bidding, and fund distribution, among other germane issues often disrupted by corruption, favoritism and nepotism”, he said.

Additionally, he said there is a need for proper frameworks that protect activists, unions, and whistleblowers who expose corruption as these categories of individuals should not have to face intimidation, suspensions, or wrongful arrests.

“Whistleblower protections laws must safeguard activists, staff, and students who expose corruption. Universities and schools generally should adopt democratic governance structures where staff, students, and stakeholders have a voice in decision-making.

“I encourage the federal and state governments to prioritize the educational sector by honouring the United Nations Education and Socio-Cultural Organization, UNESCO stipulation that the nation should allocate 26 percent of its total budget to the education sector.”

He said there is a need to explore innovative approaches for the establishment and maintenance of core educational infrastructure.

“Some of these approaches could be via joint ventures, public-private partnerships, concessioning, Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR projects, alumni association projects, among others. All viable approaches that can lead to infrastructure development that aid educational advancement should be explored to ensure that schools and universities can function effectively and equitably.

“This responsibility rests on the Vice Chancellors and management teams of respective academic institutions to ensure that they fully maximize their networks including former students, companies within the academic institution’s community, organizations with unique interests in related faculties like top medical organizations sponsoring medical laboratories, among others,” he said.

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