Although President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to disclose
a possible plan of how his administration intends to renew the hurting
education sector in the country, hopes are high, and expectations are rising
that the administration may address the neglect the sector has suffered.
Buhari had while
reiterating his determination to tackle insecurity during his inaugural speech,
stated that his government would in the long run improve the standard of
education in the country. Specifically, the President said, "For the
longer term, we have to improve the standards of our education.
We have to look at the
whole field of Medicare. We have to upgrade our dilapidated physical
infrastructure." While the nation awaits the much-needed intervention, one
of those that believes that in Buhari's capacity to turn things around in the
sector is Vice Chancellor, Federal
University, Ndufe-Alike, Ebonyi State, Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, who said,
"I am confident that the leadership of Buhari will reform positively, the
education sector.
He suggested the
"revamping of the sector with a synergy of all stakeholders at federal,
state and local governments," whom he said, should "come into an
agreement to work together on quality and maintenance of standards at all
levels.
"Science and
Technology with Innovation (STI) must be emphasized in the curriculum and the
erstwhile ratio of 60:40 for science and humanities should be increased to
70:30 at all levels.” There must be a compulsory and functional training for
all teachers at all levels. Teachers' emoluments should be paid promptly and
comparable to the best.
A revisit must be made to
all institutions especially private at all levels and there must be insistence
on quality as a condition for licence retention," the former vice
chancellor of University of Lagos Stated.
For Vice Chancellor, Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun State, Prof. Samson
Ayanlaja, "My candid advice to Buhari is to confront headlong, the
cabals and saboteurs militating against the functioning of the refineries. And
the money that would be realized should be invested in the education sector.
Even if you have all the
brilliant ideas and lack the funds to bring your ideas to reality, you have not
achieved anything. For any idea to work in the education sector, funds must be
available.
"For instance,
infrastructures in most Nigerian public schools have all broken down, most of
them do not have electricity, and how would you conveniently run education
without electricity, without refineries working and without petroleum products
being available.
"Everything is related
and interwove. All these sectors have to be working perfectly for the education
sector to function optimally. So, the president must think of how to free the
funds that can now be invested in the education sector. He must also create
measures that would ensure adequate management of the fund, so they can be used
profitably.
Public funds have been
wasted, and the president must stop these leakages." In the view of the
Vice Chancellor, Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State and Chairman,
Committee of Vice Chancellors and Registrars of Private Universities, Prof.
Isaac Adebayo Adeyemi, "There is no doubt, the Nigerian educator sector
needs a critical evaluation without a radical departure from the existing
system.
The main goal of such an
evaluation is to ensure that the products of the sector can compete effectively
in the global market. "First and foremost, basic infrastructural
facilities like electricity, water, buildings, and roads must be in place.
Secondly, a conducive
learning environment is a sine qua non, just as the deployment of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) in all tiers of learning ranging from
primary schools to universities.
The university chief who
said that the country was operating within "a knowledge-based
economy," maintained that, "both staff and students must be abreast
of developments in information technology.
"Thirdly, training
and retraining of teaching staff must be a continuous project, which will
enable them to be exposed to changes in knowledge impartation and mode of
teaching at any level.
The vice chancellor, who
regretted that there has been an upsurge in the number of universities (both
public and private) in the last five to 10 years, without adequate planning for
funding and academic staff," stressed that "most, if not all our
universities are understaffed. It is imperative to embark on massive manpower
development both within and outside the country."
Adeyemi, who cautioned
against placing emphasis only on tertiary education, added that "federal
and state governments must revive technical colleges, trade centres, farm
settlements and similar institutions that would encourage graduates with
relevant skills to fill the vacuum that has been created within the economy.
Such institutions would
also assist in reducing employment rate, which is currently extremely high
among the youths. "Our research institutes must be affiliated to
universities to encourage cross-fertilization of ideas and remove the
bureaucracy associated with research institutes as appendages of the relevant
ministries," he recommended.
He continued,
"Private universities must be assisted to survive and contribute immensely
to the desired change in our education sector.
Evidences abound that some
private universities, though relatively young, have been making waves
nationally and internationally.
They have also
demonstrated that 'sanity' can prevail in universities by ensuring
uninterrupted academic calendar and a measure of discipline.
"Some of these
universities have introduced novel programmes like mechatronics and bio-medical
engineering. They should be encouraged by ensuring that they benefit from
Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TET Fund) through manpower development, research
grants, attendance at conferences and possibly granting of loans at single
digit interest rates for infrastructural development. "The treatments for
these can be worked out.
This would save Nigeria
capital flight to the West world and African countries, where it has been established
that a lot of Nigerian students attend unapproved or underrated institutions.
The above propositions
could only be achieved through proper funding and judicious use of such funds
coupled with implementable strategic plans," he concluded.
