By Dayo Adesulu

As the achievement of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in the education sector continues to attract mixed reactions from stakeholders in Nigerian and in diaspora, Vanguard Learning in this report, takes a critical examination of the kudos and knocks over the last four years.

While it is widely believed in some quarters that President Jonathan did performed in some sectors, it is held that he had neglected the education sector. However, some social critics argued that while the president gave maximum attention to revamping the educationsector, it was targeted to woo the votes of certain geo-political zones during the forthcoming general elections. Again, another school of thought is of the opinion that what the Jonathan administration referred to as achievement in the sector are cosmetic projects that could not stand the test of time.

Cosmetic projects

File Photo: Cross section of students writing exam

However, Vanguard Learning in this report examines the list of some of the development that took place under Jonathan’s administration over the last four years.

President Jonathan over these years  had accelerated the development of education at all levels. He has not only repositioned the public school system but had also provided the enabling environment for greater participation of private individuals and agencies in the delivery of education services under government regulation.

Apparently, the Jonathan administration  should be applauded for rehabilitation and upgrade of federal government-owned schools which were eye-sore before now.

So far, he had refurbished and equipped 51 Federal and State Polytechnics with modern laboratories to encourage participation in technical and vocational education and training.

Over 352 science and technical laboratories in the 104 Federal Unity Colleges, had been refurbished, in addition to providing 62 ICT centres and 40 sets of mathematical kits.

The administration has distributed a total of 19.67 million instructional materials in the four core subjects of English Language, Mathematics, Basic Science and Technology, and Cocial Studies to primary 1 and primary 2 pupils.

Borthered by the deprivation suffered by young boys and girls to education, in the north, the Jonathan administration introduced a three-pronged programme of the Almajiri Education System, the Girl-Child Education and Back-to-School initiatives which have drastically reduced the out-of-school children profile in the country, particularly in the north.

Larger bulk of the education fund in the past three years was channeled to the 150 Almajiri schools across the Northern states and the Out-of-School-Children Programme. The Specialised Boys and Girls Schools across the country have imparted positively in the lives of these despaired children.

The administration constructed 64 Almajiri Model Schools, which had since begun operation. These are part of a list of 89 schools being constructed by the administration through the Universal Basic Education, UBEC.

Before the Jonathan administration came on board in 2011, enrollment in basic schools was 23 million. However, between 2011 to 2014, the enrollment had increased to over 29 million and still growing yearly.  In the same vein, enrollment in colleges of education has increased from 620, 000 in 2011 to 750,000 in 2013.

To guarantee enhanced access to university education, President Jonathan established 14 new universities, 9 in the northern states of Kogi, Taraba, Jigawa, Gombe, Nasarawa, Katsina, Yobe, Kebbi and Zamfara States, three in the southern states of Ebonyi, Bayelsa and Ekiti, including two specialized Police and Maritime universities. With such development,  all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory have at least a federal university.

Enabling environment

Under Jonathan’s administration, the number of private primary, secondary and tertiary institutions have also doubled as a result of the enabling environment provided for private investors to operate. This is in addition to the establishment of new NCE awarding institutions and the upgrading of strategic polytechnics for enhanced service delivery in the country.

In line with its commitment to the proper funding of the sector, the administration has almost tripled education allocation from N224 billion in 2007 to N634 billion in 2013. In the budget released by the Federal Government budget from 2011 to 2014, education funding steadily increased. Recall that in 2011, the education ministry received N365.8 billion; in 2012, it was N400.15 billion, in the 2013 budget, it was N426.53 billion and in 2014, education gulped N493 billion.

Also, recall that in 2013, the administration for the first time released N200 billion Intervention Fund to universities managements and governing councils

This has been complemented with the creation of special intervention agencies such as the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Special NEEDS Assessment Fund through which over N500 billion has been spent on various projects to increase access and improve the quality of infrastructure at the nation’s tertiary level of education.

To guarantee quality education, the Jonathan administration had sponsored over 5, 867 lecturers of federal and state tertiary institutions for post-graduate studies, out of which 1,375 were sponsored overseas.

Another landmark achievement the Jonathan administration has made in the education sector, is on the review of school curriculum. The curriculum was reviewed in line with national development objectives, while public-private partnership was strengthened with major publishers for the development of basic and senior secondary school textbooks.

Also, under the current administration, the nation’s education sector has gradually witnessed computerization, with the introduction of the Computer-Based Test (CBT) which is now mandatory for all candidates as from 2015 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME. This computerised system was introduced by the administration three years ago. The administration also launched the Safe Schools Initiative to ensure that young people are not only safe in going to school, but that schools environment are safe for learning, growth and development.

The Jonathan administration did  Construct special girls schools in 13 states of the Federation in order to improve the Girls’ Education Programme, including girls boarding schools in Adamawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Delta and Akwa Ibom.  It launched the National Campaign on Access to Basic Education across the geo-political zones to reduce the number of out-of-school children.

Meanwhile, in one of reactions to the Jonathan’s achievement in education, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari deflated the claim as empty and inconsequential.

Buhari alleged that the Jonathan administration should be held responsible for serious shortcomings in the sector, stressing that he presided over the greatest decline ever witnessed in the history of the nation’s education.

Similarly, the Director of Media and Publicity for APC,  Mallam Garba Shehu said: “President Jonathan should be blamed for the present confusion in the sector riddened with long strikes occasioned by the poor management of the sector by his appointees.”