Nigerian educational system, since the military rule, has been declining. This was not so during colonialism, the First Republic  and when missionaries held sway in  the system. Then,   Nigerians, including their elites, educated  their children at home. Even those who studied abroad returned home for employment. However, with the collapse of the system,  a lot of Nigerians, and those who can afford it, especially the leaders, now ferry their children abroad for studies. These are the same people saddled with the responsibility of providing infrastructure, encourage staff and allocate funds to the educational sector. Our concern this week is to look at  our leaders’ attitude of  sending their children abroad for studies and how it affects our educational system.  And some notable Nigerians have done justice to this issue. Read on:

I disagree — Pastor Ituah Ighodalo
The problem with the Nigerian educational system is just one of those endemic failures that exists  in our social and economic sectors. I don’t agree that the elites sending their children abroad is the bane because even most of these people we refer to as elites live on borrowed resources.

The Nigerian system is corrupt and that is why people can afford not to carry out their responsibilities and go away with it. Look at the Power Holding Company (PHCN) for instance, is it because people can afford generators that this sector is not working? The answer is no.  So, I don’t think it’s because some parents can afford an alternative that the educational system has failed. Again, I believe the government has not done enough to address the issue of strike in the education sector. Government has to encourage teachers to get the best from them. More funds need to be allocated to education and these funds must be monitored so that people don’t steal it.

To a large extent, I’ll also say that education was better in this country when it was run by the missionaries who tried to subsidise the cost and at the same time gave quality education. This is far different from what the private school owners are doing now, which is primarily to make money. The government should provide infrastructure and enter into some kind of partnership with school owners. They can also award scholarships to some children who’re very intelligent but whose parents can’t foot the bill.

Blame bad leadership, administration —Glory Chukwu, MBGN 09

No, I don’t agree with this fact. Yes, it may be part of it but I’ll just allocate about 10% to it. The problem with the educational system is like all other sectors in this country. Bad leadership and administrative are the bane. If we can let go of corruption in this country, our education will not collapse. Imagine a society where funds meant for the growth of the education are diverted for personal use,  leading to lack of infrastructure. Teachers too have become very reluctant to give in their best because they’ve realised that their effort is not duly rewarded.

Corruption is the bane —Pastor Wale Adefarasin

I believe the major reason our education is not where it should be today is because we don’t value it and our government has refused to give it the priority that it truly deserves. Elites and people in government sending their children to study abroad may be a contributing factor but the major reason is that our people do not understand how important it is to educate this generation. Our problem in this country is corruption, and until people who are caught in this practice are sanctioned, others will not take correction. I think that we need to devote more funds to education and these funds need to be monitored because most times, even the little that’s allocated do not get to the schools. If you go to a typical public school, you find dilapidated buildings. The books are not there. Even some of them do not have chairs to sit on because some  people who get these funds divert it for their personal use. I know that many Nigerians will not like to send their children abroad for studies if the system here was okay. But with what we have at hand, parents will  continue to send their children abroad, if they want to give them good education and if they can afford it.

No, govt. failed in this regard ,Chief (Mrs) Maureen Bakare,  Chairman, UNILAG Parents’ Forum

I’ll say it’s not part of the failure as people in the middle class in Nigeria also send their children abroad to study because the system has failed completely. Maybe, you’re not aware that some parents actually borrow money from financial institutions to send their children abroad for studies because they don’t want to endanger their future.
Look at those in the House of Representatives fighting to collapse post JAMB exams, just for their own selfish interest. You may argue that post JAMB exam has nothing to do with the educational system but it was introduced to bring sanity into the system by screening the students. Though,  many parents have said that fee is expensive, which I think should be looked into, nobody should collapse this exam. You can imagine a situation where a student who can’t even speak English language scores 400 in JAMB. Why would the same student find it difficult to score 200 in post JAMB. In this country, strike action is a major cause for alarm because the government has refused to pay attention to the needs of these teachers. As much as I don’t want to dwell so much on strike, I think it’s high time the needs of lecturers and teachers are met. Otherwise many parents will have no option than to continue sending their children abroad for studies since they cannot boast of an uninterrupted educational system here. Nigerian children are everywhere—Ghana, Britain, America and other parts of the world, just to get educated because our government has failed to make education it’s priority.