‘Strict Implementation of Education Reforms will Ensure Significant Achievement’
With the 2015 presidential election concluded and the emergence of General Mohammadu Buhari as the president-elect of Nigeria, stakeholders in the education sector are of the view that his administration should without fail, instil discipline in the educa
Widespread jubilation across the country greeted the victory of a former military ruler, General Mohammadu Buhari as presidentelect defeating the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan and removing the ruling PDP ruling party from power since the country returned to civilian rule in 1999.
Before the March 28 election, Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had written a letter to Nigerians, stating his covenant highlighting the programmes to give the country a renewed hope of honour, national pride, as well as dignity of labour for various sectors.
For the education sector, he promised to restore its lost glory by implementing reforms that will put quality back into schools and position the universities and polytechnics to provide market-relevant skills to the youths.
According to him, “I believe that our education system must prepare our children for the responsibilities and prepare youths to contribute to the development of our country.”
After his victory at the polls, the Buhari/ Osinbajo Campaign Office released a statement highlighting some of the promises of the incoming government, which include putting a halt to the culture of graft and public funds looting that has created a gulf between the super wealthy and the very poor; to tackle poverty by creating jobs and setting up social welfare schemes that cater to the poorest Nigerians.
In education, the president-elect promised to provide a free meal a day to children in all public primary schools in the country, as part of measures to reduce the number of out of school children in Nigeria, which currently stands at about 10.3 million; improve the academic performances of the students as they will now be guaranteed at least one balanced diet a day; stimulate the agricultural industry due to the massive demand the programme will have on the sector.
These notwithstanding, stakeholders in the sector are of the opinion that the country needs to strictly adhere to the reforms in the sector to attain the desired development.
The Vice-Chancellor of the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Prof. Tolu Odugbemi congratulated the president-elect and the Vice-President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, President Goodluck Jonathan, Prof. Attahiru Jega and his INEC team, as well as Nigerians for the successful conduct of the 2015 presidential election, saying that God has given Nigerians the opportunity to rebuild the country of their dream.
He said the lesson for all to learn is that politics should be for good governance and service to all electorates and should not be a do-or-die affair. “We should now all settle down to sincere hard work. This is not the time for paying homage and special solidarity visits to elected officers. This is an unnecessary distraction for good governance.”
He expressed concerns about the numerous challenges confronting the sector, saying that there is impunity at all levels of governance.
“Discipline is very important in attaining any significant achievement in human organisation. Nigeria is at a cross road. Instead of our present educational system helping to propel us forward in development, we face a gloomy picture of decay because of wrong ideas and teachings that made ‘self’, instead of the ‘society’ as a centre of development. The over-development of ‘self’ in positive ways would not have harmed the nation but the greed attached to ‘self-development’ has.”
Odugbemi noted that there are supervisory bodies such as school boards, governing councils, committees on education, among others set up to monitor the development of education in schools and higher institutions, but argued that some members of such bodies are generally uninformed about their duties, and responsibilities attached to their offices.
“While some work very hard for excellence, others see membership of such bodies as opportunities to ‘make it’. Projects meant to be supervised by their supervisory bodies become personal projects of self-aggrandisement they execute with nothing to show at the end of the day. Even the funds for execution of necessary projects are usually taken to be ‘for sharing’. Deceit, insincerity and abuse of office are rampant. Harassment of ‘those not playing ball’ is the order of the day.”
He described education as a tool for development, saying that if properly handled from childhood to adulthood through various systems; primary, secondary and tertiary levels and if attention is paid to the implementation of good ideas, there would be positive change in the country.
“Character building must accompany any form of learning for products of such institutions to be relevant to society development. We Nigerians must re-assure ourselves that we can rebuild our societies by refocusing our values on positive and virtuous traits.”
The South-west Zonal Head of the National Institute of Cultural Orientation, Akure, Mr. Ohi Ojo, said the new administration should instil discipline in the system, as opposed to a situation where lecturers would down tools at the flimsiest excuse.
He added that the incoming government should set high standard for the primary and secondary school levels and should ensure the training and retraining of teachers because the foundation is key.
“Some teachers cannot in any sense of the word be found in the classrooms. That is why many of them dread examination and gang up against governors who wish to do that. I encourage the incoming government to re-certify teachers. They must be professionals who must be periodically tested and certified to be current with trends in education.”
With a sound foundation in public schools, he said people would have confidence in the system though there could be a choice between public and private schools, adding that there must be a deliberate policy that would encourage the citizens to have confidence in products of public schools from primary to the tertiary level.
A lecturer at the Lagos State University (LASU), Dr. Habeeb Sanni, said a true progressive party should make education available and cheap if not free, adding that there should be trainings for personnel at all levels.
“We need to refocus our curriculum to meet up with the reality of the time. We need deliberate policy to encourage vocational training that will make our graduates employable.”
He expressed concern about resources to tackle the issues headlong considering other competing programmes in a rapidly dwindling economy.
A Professor of Nutrition Education, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Yetunde Makinde, said there should be a change in policy in the agricultural sector such that students who are interested in going into the field could be given soft loans to go into the farms and produce enough food for everyone.
“We don’t want a monolithic kind of trade where we will have to depend so much on importation of fuel. The new administration can help students who want to go into agriculture, there will be enough food for everybody and once there is food; there will be jobs for people such that we will not have to import food or even fuel into the country. When we were growing up, most people were into agriculture because everyone was planting. Farming is the way to help the economy,” she stressed.
The Director of TLS, Ikoyi, Lagos, Mrs. Olubunmi Egbeyemi, said the new administration should set up basic infrastructure and plans to properly train teachers, as well as reinstating the abandoned teacher teaching college.
“The administration should create elaborate incentive schemes to attract the best of teachers to aid them on trainings abroad, conferences (especially for teachers in the public sector). This will open and broaden their thinking perspectives.”
She added that there should be provision of hands-on material to aid/stimulate children’s learning process, saying, “people learn faster and better visually.”
According to Egbeyemi, special educational centers for children with special needs should be established, adding that the in-coming government must step in to cater for children who can’t afford privately owned centres.
The Director of Communication to the Osun State Governor, Mr. Semiu Okalawon, who regretted that the sector has suffered untold decay, stressed that the country needs an urgent reform nationwide.
“Critical areas of education such as physical infrastructure, quality of staff, curriculum relevance require urgent review.”
He said the incoming government should pay more attention to basic education so as to use it to build a solid foundation for the tertiary institutions. He argued that the poor performance in public examinations is traceable to the deplorable situation at the basic level, adding that a conscious effort at strengthening the basic level would end the era of rot in the education sector.