Education is regarded as the bedrock of any society,? hence its importance to national development cannot be overemphasised. Any society that is serious about development must therefore educate its citizenry. It is against this background that the dwindling fortune of Nigeria’s? educational sector is worrisome. ?
Education has become everybody’s right. That explains why international human rights instruments insist that education is a fundamental human right. These instruments include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. This is what led to the declaration of the World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA) which took place in Thailand in 1990. In its first article, it was decided that every person: child, youth and adult shall be able to benefit from educational opportunities, which will in turn help the society to grow.?? ?
In Nigeria, education has suffered from years of neglect from successive governments. This is due to inadequate attention to policy frameworks within the sector. According to Dr Daniel Aruse, an educationist, the national literacy rate has risen to about 74 per cent. He also said that about 51 per cent of the teaching force were unqualified, “There is an acute shortage of infrastructure and facilities at all levels,” he said. ?
Recently, the presidential task force on education revealed that the federal government had spend over N500billion on the educational sector on person and overhead cost in the last three years, yet, the sector is still dwindling at an alarming rate. Some Nigerians who spoke with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND expressed fear over the state of education in Nigeria. They also?? made suggestions on the way forward.
Mr Eddie Mbadiwe, a member of the House of Representatives, representing? Ideato North/ Ideato South? of Imo State? said,??? ‘’I have always maintained that the problem we have in this country is that true Nigerians have not emerged.? Those who really love Nigeria have not emerged.? I have commissioned my staff to do a survey.? There were a number of things I asked them to find out, including whether one could die for one’s state, country, or even? ethnic? group?’ it will surprise you that those who were ready to die for Nigeria were the least. People would rather die for their ethnic group, religion, not for the country.? So I think there is a fundamental problem here,? and? I attribute it to lack of education.”
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Comrade Aminu Suleiman, who represents? Fagge federal constituency of Kano? State, also? blamed? the elite, saying , ‘’ We should not be paying for education by struggling; the private school is not an answer. The thinking is that private schools are better. They might be better to an extent, but not? excellent .?? Many of them prudently pass students who otherwise did not deserve it. They compromise standard and the process of acquiring WAEC and NECO, they compromise? internal examination processes, where students are only given a semblance of education.
?According to Yusuf Ayo Tajudeen who represents Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency of Kogi State , ‘’ There is a lot of compromise on the etiquettes of education.? Any business that wants to make?? profit cannot depend on government.? Truly, some of the new universities are not fit to be called universities; they are just gloried secondary schools.”
While some people have been calling on? the federal government to declare a state of emergency on? the educational sector,? Mbadiwe continued, ‘’ I am trying to bring an amendment bill to the parliament soon. This is aimed at making education compulsory and free. In that bill you must go to school until you get to SS3 or its equivalent.? Once we can get majority of Nigerians to stop at that level,? we can start having? people who understand what the country is all about. They will begin to ask questions and understand some decisions the government is taking on their behalf. Even if you want to be a street sweeper, you must get to SSS3. When this is done, many people will be able to read and understand the newspapers, and be at a better position to challenge the president, governor, or whoever sits over his affairs.
In his summation,? Tajudeen stated, ‘’ I think people are getting frustrated; I was able to compute what Britain gets from Nigerian private pockets in education.? It is three times what the Nigerian government budgets annually,? for some states. People used? to go abroad? for? master’s? degree programmes , but now they even take their children there for primary education.?
That is enough to tell you that we have lost it. Ghana is where it is today because they implemented plans. If you plan, you are half way successful, but if you fail to plan, you have failed half way. In 1990, Dubai was a street with about four houses, in 2,000,it was already a city. They sat down and planned. Here we have robust ideas, but we don’t implement them. Nigeria must sit down and plan for her educational sector if we want to meet? world challenges.”
Profferings solution to this problem, Dr Aruse continued, “Government must, as a matter of urgency, create a conducive environment that would enable educational institutions function well. They should also bring in private investors that will inject funds through private donations and grants. The UBE programme? needs to be? improved as foundation matters in everything. Great attention should be given to nursery, primary, secondary and vocational schools as they are the building blocks of educational foundation.”