‘Education sector improvement should top FG priority list’
It is indeed appalling that a sector as essential as education has over the years suffered serious neglect from successive governments, a situation that is further heightened by the growing interest for foreign education by Nigerians who can afford it.
While statistics reveal that the population of students in different educational institutions abroad continues to rise with it attendant lost of foreign reserve for Nigeria, there appears however to be no corresponding interest by past government to handle this anomaly, a situation that is triggering the production of poorly trained students and graduates as the case maybe.
It is against this backdrop that educationists have for called the Buhari Administration to accord greater attention to education than the business of oil.
They maintains that while there is a paramount need to manage Nigeria’s oil resources more efficiently and create more wealth opportunities, there is an even greater need to invest more in education, especially because it is less obvious or less glamourous.
Bimbo Olashore, chairman, Board of Governors, Olashore International School, Osun State observe that education has been the key success factor of the industrialized nations stressing that by paying priority to education from primary to university level, they have been able to create a steady stream of human capital that are managing all other aspects of the economy and indeed society.
According to him, “It is only through a sound educational system that sound leaders as well as a productive workforce can be developed over the course of time.
“We are now operating in a new knowledge economy where the factory is moving away from physical buildings and large infrastructure. The brain is the location of the new age factory,” he said
Olashore further opine that “the guiding principle of education in Nigeria is the equipping of every citizen with such knowledge, skills, attitudes and values as to enable him/her to derive maximum benefits from his/her membership in society, lead a fulfilling life and contribute to the development and welfare of the community.
“What Nigeria’s educational system lack at the moment is not necessarily the absence of policies, but more the absence of will and a sense of purpose and urgency in the matter of education,” he noted
Commenting further on the issues of funding and private sector partnership, the he disclosed that there is a need for the incoming administration led by Muhammadu Buhari to choose amongst Primary, Secondary and tertiary education and adequately fund it, while leaving the others in the hands of private investors to strengthen, thus allowing the government to give the best to our teeming population of children with its limited resources.
“Emphasis should be placed on the foundation level because every solid entity is built on a solid foundation.
“I suggest that government should pick primary education and make it solid enough to give sound secondary school and tertiary education to its citizenry because it is the foundation of education. If we get it right in the primary, the secondary and tertiary education will naturally fall in place
“Education can be done by government and individuals, but the sustainability of what they have started is what matters. For the incoming government, the philosophy and approach matters a lot. Government should make primary education basic and affordable so that everyone can read and write. The philosophy of those in charge has to be taken into consideration.
“If government says it will operate free education from Primary to University level, I will doubt it because, I don’t think government has the resources to adequately fund it. The cost of getting quality secondary and tertiary education is heavy and capital intensive for government alone to fund. If you say you have a University that produces engineers and they cannot compete with their counterparts globally, what is the use? If the facilities are not there in the universities, you cannot produce a sound graduate in any field of study.
At Tertiary education, quality is essential because University is for expansion of the mind, and the quality of education given to students expands their minds. “
He also stressed on the regulatory policy which makes it difficult for private sectors to invest in education, should be looked into. He stated thus: “Existing regulations can affect. Let government work on regulations, curriculum development, and the likes. The government should allow investors establish schools based on their philosophy on education, arguing that where an investor might just have a vision for a Law School or Accounting School, for example, and perform solidly, others may be interested in Medical School. In that case making it mandatory to investors are allowed, it will no longer be required to acquire hundreds of acres of land before starting a university is not the best value proposition.
KELECHI EWUZIE