Lalacewar Ilmin Gaba da Sakandare a 1984
Na Aliyu U. Tilde
Jama’a
Ina Kwananku?
Mutanen wannan dandali uku suna bi na bashin abuwa hudu, na sauke daya jiya na maganar fara tara bayanai kan wadanda ke batawa Najeriya suna a waje ta hanyar aikata laifukka. A kan wannan, jiya na nemi wadanda suka sa kansu su aiko da wasu bayanai. Madalla sun ko aiko. Saura biyu:
Aiko da Lik’en malafa (file attachment) na hoton dajin Falgore da na yi wa Urwatu da mutanen dandali don ba kowa ya iya budewa ba. Wannan ban sami damar yi ba don ban gano inda komputa ta take ba. Ina jin tana Bauchi. In na je anjima zan lika, ISA. Ku ci gaba da mun hakuri.
Bayani kan JAMB da na ce zanyi ranar Asabar din can in mun fito daga fili. Muhawarorin da muka yi ta yi da zuwa Abuja da kuma kasala sun sa ban iya yin hakan ba a kan lokaci. To amma gobe ko jibi sakamakon jarrabawar JAMB din zai fito. Kuma ya zama wajibi in cika wannan alkawarin ko ana ha maza ha mata don iyayen yara da su kansu yaran su amfana. Wannan yaya da matukar muhimmanci kowa ya karanta.
Zancen yadda ilmin gaba da sakandare ya fara tab’arb’arewa a 1984. Wanan dagangan na jinkirta shi don a samu fahimtar juna kan yanayin tattaunawar. To ina ga wannan fahimtar ta samu yanzu, kuma shirye nake in baku ku sha.
Gata nan gata nan ku:
FARA LALACEWAR ILMIN GABA DA SAKANDARE A 1984.
Kafin mu shiga wannan maudu’i (topic), ya kamata mu yi waiwayen abun da ya kawo wannan maganar.
Na shigo zaure ne na samu matasa suna ta tada jijiyar wuya a kan yadda suke shan wuya kan abubuwa da dama tunda aka yi manna (posting) abunda Col. Hamid Ali ya ce. Har wani ya kawo zancen wahalar samun shiga (admission) makarantu sai dai in kai dan wani babba ne. Ya fadi yadda aka kwace masa shigarsa zuwa sakandare aka baiwa dan wani mai hali. Hedmastan sa har ya yi kuka, ya ce ya yi hakuri.
Wannan labari ya motsa zuciyata, sai ko na kad’a baki na ce: “Kun ga, mutanen k’arni (generation) na ke da laifi. Mun more abubuwa da yawa amma mun kasa baiwa na bayanmu wadannan abubuwan. Na yi ta sharhi har na gutsura musu nawa labarin yadda na wuce sakandare daga kiwon shanu, har na je jami’a ba tare da na san kowa ba, muka sha lagwada, muka yi karatu gwargwadon abun da ya sauwaka. Na ce ba zan fadi sauran ba don in na fada, wallahi ‘yan bayanmu za su tsene mana.
To sai matasan nan suka shiga “intifada” kan shugabannin yanzu, su kai ta jifa, suna cewa su suka jawo wannan. Farfesa Abba Gumel nan ya shigo, ya dau shugabanni (na “siyasa da gargajiya”) shi ma ya jefa cikin tukunya farfesunsa, ya k’ara wuta. Nan ma a garin sharhi, sai na sa baki na ce, “A’a. Ba yanzu abun ya fara ba. Mu koma baya kamar shekara ashirin da takwas. Ga cizgen (quotation) matanin (text) abun da nacewa Farfesan a cikin baka (quotation marks):
“Ironically, har Shagari ya bar mulki abubuwan nan were intact kamar a education sector duk da cewa kowa ya san ba za su ‘dore ba saboda UPE na Obasanjo da ya dorawa sector din nauyin da ba zai iya dauka ba. Buhari shi ya fara dakatar da wannan tsarin lagwada a makarantun GABA da sakandare. Ina malamin jami’a a lokacin. Kuma a gaskiya in na fadi abinda su Buhari suka yi wa musamman higher education a k’asar nan, za a ga bak’ina kwarai da gaske. Don in gaskiya ta shafi Buhari, sai dai mutum ya yi shiru. Ba zai fada ba don gudun gurguwar fahimta da cin mutunci.
“Amma a takaice, babban kuskuren da Buhari ya yi shi ne na dakatar da komai a wadannan makarantun, komai na gaya maka. Da Babangida ya zo sai ya dawwamar da wannan dakatarwar har sai da komai ya lalace, har zuwa karshen mulkin Abdulsalami. Buhari a lokacin da kyakkyawar niyya ya dakatar da komai a kasar duk da cewa yin haka ba shi ne mafi dacewa ba. Kuma aka gamu da rashin sa’a mulkinsa bai d’ore ba har ya ga illar abun ya gyara da wuri.”
To fa! Fadin Buhari ke da wuya, kamar yadda na zata, sai mutum biyu suka yi caa a kaina, duk da cewa abunda na fada daidai ne, kuma na nuna ladabi ga Buhari sosai da adalci a cikin maganata kamar yadda mai karatu ya gani a cizgen sakin layi (paragaraph) biyu din can. Sauran mutanen zauren suka ce, sam, in ci gaba, in fede biri har wutsiya, su suna son su amfana. Kuma har yayana Ibrahim Sanyi Sanyi (amma na shaida zafi garai walla!) ya ce ai tunda su ne shugannin wannan zaure (na Raayi) ba za su bari wani ya ci mun mutunci ba. Na ce, “To. Zan yi anjima.” To tunda na ga wurin da zafi a lokacin, sai na dakata tukun.
Wannan itace shimfidar da na so yi don kar mu mance da abun da aka d’ora zancen a kai, musamman ga wadanda basu biyo hirar (thread) tun farko ba. Yanzu sai mu mike da tafiyarmu. Amma kafin nan, ga kashedi irin na Bawa a wakar Bawa Direba ta Shata, da suka isa inda gada ta karye musu, kuma bayan bawa ya tada mota, ya sa giya zai tsallake gadar:
“Sai yaf fito yal leka
Yana, “ku zauna daidai
Kowa ya rirrike bodi
Kowa ya lura da benci
Don kar in ja ku ku fadi
Kowa na ja shi ya fadi
Ko ya mace ba komai
Sarki yake k’aunata
Kun san ina son Shata
Ban son ya fad’i ya karye
Idan ya fad’i ya karye
Abun yanai mani ciwo
Don banda mai mani waka.”
Ya ce da mu, “k’a, kun shirya?”
Nai wub, na ce, “Mun kimtsa.”
Bature sai yan nok’e
Yai wub ya rungume Shata
Yana ta zunduma zagi:
“Kai mutumin banza ne
Kai sakaren wofi ne.
Ka za ka ce mun shirya?
Kasa ya ja mu ya badda?
Ga kau gada ta karye?
Koko giyarka ka shawo?
Ka ce da shi mun shirya?
Ka sa ya ja mu ya badd(a)”
A’a ba giya ba na shawo
Zato nake mun shirya
Na ce da shi mun kimtsa.
Bature tsoro yaj ji
Don shi yana yin sallah
Duk wanda ke yin sallah
Ko bai da tsoron kowa
Yana da tsoron Allah
Tsoron azabar Allah
Ni kau da ban taba sallah -
Ba, sai na d’auki kirari:
Duna Uban-Alkali
Mamman na Bilkin Sam(bo)
Mai shan giya na ‘yar maigoro (?)
Hayee da seeti Baawa na Laaraba.”
Ni ma Ali Gadanga Kusar Yaki, Mod’i boodi magani rewdu, Mai Jan hali ‘dan Nana, zan tsaya a nan in tambayi wadanda muke wannan motar dandali ko sun shirya. In akwai “Bature” a cikinmu da ke son ya koka, zan bashi dama ya koka, kafin in ci gaba. Ha in sha ruwa.
Na gode.
Aliyu
Lalacewar Ilmin Gaba Da Sakandare daga 1984 (2)
Na Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
Yan Najeriya sun shiga shekarar 1984 da Murnar juyin mulkin da aka yi a ranar karshe ta shekarar 1983, in ban mance ba. Akwai k’aulani akan wadanda suka shirya juyin mulkin da dalilansu, kuma ko wanda aka mikawa shugabancin k’asa bayan juyin mulkin, watau Manjo-Janar Muhammadu Buhari, ko yana cikinsu ko baya cikinsu.
Koma me ke gaskiyar maganganun, tabbas mu ‘yan Najeriya mun yi murna, in ka ture bakin cikin da wadanda suke damawa a mulkin siyasar da aka juye, d’aba’an (naturally). Ba a jima ba aka ce Buhari ne aka baiwa shugaban kasa. Irinmu da muka dandana mulkinsa yana gwamnan Jahar Arewa Maso-Gabas a lokacin Murtala nan da nan muka san cewa gari ya waye wa Najeriya. Balle da ya yi jawabi wa jama’a. Nan da nan k’asa ta rude da murna.
To da su Buhari suka zauna kujerar Mulki, irin zama na Iya Lamarana, sai suka Ankara cewa halin da kasar ke ciki ya wuce duk yadda ake tsammani. In wadanda suka shirya juyin mulkin sun aza za su hau kan mulki ne su yi sharholiya, watau dababar korar biri a gindin kanya, to sun yi kuskure da suka kira Buhari suka bashi mulki. Don ko tafiya bata yi nisa ba abubuwa suka fara cutura tsakaninsu. Dama d’an Kwairo ya ce cikin wakar Hasan Usman Katsina:
Ga kare da kura
Ga bunsuru da rago
Ance sun kama hanya…
Buhari da mataimakinsa, Manjo-Janar Tunde Idiagbon, da ministoci da gwamnoni dayawa su kam sun dukufa wajen gyaran k’asa. Sun iske taskar gwamnati shal, ba ko kwandala saboda dalilai biyu: mummunar faduwar kudin man fetur da rashin tsari na tattali a gwamnatin tarayya don bacin rana.
Kafin su Buhari su shigo, su Shugaban Kasa Shehu Shagari sun fara kokarin daukan matakan matse bakin aljihun gwamnati. Don haka sun fito da matakai na rage yawan abun da gwamnati ke yi na sauwaka rayuwar ‘yan Najeriya. Wadannan matakai a lokacin ana kiransu “austerity measures”, watau matakan matsi.
To in kun tuna nace har su Buhari suka zo abubuwa dangane da ilmi a gaba da sakandare suna nan tsab (intact). Wannan haka ne musamman ta fannin tsari, don babu wani abu da ‘yan siyasa suka dauka a hukumance wanda ya takaita ingancin ba da ilmin a wadannan makarantun duk kuwa da cewa an fara aiwatar da “austerity measures.”
Ga abin da na sani a Jami’ar Ahmadu Bello inda na yi dalibta, da Jamiar Sakkwato a lokacin inda na yi koyarwa.
Malamai suna nan isassu, dakunan bincike (laboratories) na nan makare da sinadarai (reagents) da kayakin bincike (equipment), kowanne sashi (department) na da library dinsa gami da mujallu (periodicals and journals) bila adadin. Kuma babban dakin karatu kamar Kashim Ibrahim Library shake yake da sabbin litattafi da mujallu a kowanne fanni, kari kan abun da ake da shi a sassa. Hakaza, a dakin sai da litattafai (bookshop) na jami’a, akwai kowane sabon littafi mai muhimmanci a fannin da mutum yake karantawa.
Haka kuma malamai na nan makil, kowa ana biyansa albashi mai tsoka. Suna zuwa taron karawa juna ilmi (seminars da conferences) akai akai, ana basu abubuwan jin dadi kamar bashin mota, da sauransu. Sannan don a samu ingantaccen ilmi, da yawa daga cikin malaman daga waje suke, sannan ‘yan Najeriya a sabbin jami’o’I ana turasu kasar waje, su tafi har sai sun digirgire (PhD).
Mu kuwa dalibai kome na nan ba a soke ba: Ana wanke mana kayan sawanmu duk sati, ajewa kawai za mu yi a bakin kofa, za a zo a dauka a goge a dawo mana da shi. Gwamnatocin mu na bamu kudin karatu (scholarship) akai akai. Mu dalibai muna tafiya yawon k’arin fahimta (excursion) har Tekun Atlantika inda za mu yi kwanaki a kan ruwa muna bincike kan kifaye da halittun teku, da Dajin Yankari, da sauransu.
Abinci hukuma ce take shirya shi a dakunan cin abinci (dining halls), don har muka kare a 1982 ba mu san girki b. Su famfon shayi na nan ko baka da kudi za ka je dining hall ka sha shayi ko kofi da madara da suga, kyauta. Kofi kawai za ka dauka a gefen randa mai famfo, ka bude famfon ka cika kofi da shayin, ka je ka zauna ka sha. In ko kana da kudi, wanda duk daliban Arewa na da su isassu a lokacin, to ai abinci ba damuwa (issue) ba ne. Sam. Da kwabo hamsin (50k) za ka ci abinci wanda wallahi ko gidan minista yau aka girka wannan abincin an yi kokari. Mu kam yanzu ana ganinmu kamar masu kudi, amma duk da haka bama iya ciyar da iyalanmu irin wancan abincin.
To zaka je dakin abinci (Dining Hall), ka samu kalan abinci uku ko hudu ko yaushe. Sai ka cewa mai sa (serving) abincin irin wanda kake so. Sai ta shak’e maka faranti (plate) da shi. Sai ka wuce gaba wajen mai miya da nama, ko kaza in ranakun kaza ne. Ita ma ta zuba maka isasshen miya da nama manya akalla biyu. Amma har hudu ma za ta sa maka in kuna shiri. Sai ka wuce karshen layi ka dau cokala irin wanda kake so, da kofin ruwa. Kaje ka zauna. In da safe ne ko yamma, kamar yadda nace, sai ka wuce ka je famfon shayi ka cika kofi daya ko biyu ka dawo ya fara aikawa da d’a’ami. Kana ci da abokinka, kuna hira. Mashaallahu. Duniya ta yi kyau. In an jima sai ka je kiyosk ka shakata ka wanke cikinka da yoghurt, ko Caprisonne, ko Fanta ko Koka-kola masu sanyi, da sauransu. Ga kiyosk nan facaca a kowane lungu a jami’a. Ni kam ma har abun ya shafi karatu na don har yau in cikin nan yayi tanki, ai sai barci. Wai “dankauye ya shiga alkarya”, in ji Abubakar Ladan:
Ga riga na diban hakki
Ga kantar daud'a ba wanki
Sai ya hango mai alkaki
Ya kira ya saya ya ci yai tanki
Gagon sai ya ji yana hakki
Daga bukka ta ruga, yau an kai ga jami’a ana shan Koka-Kola da Caprisonne da kaji da kwai da koda, ai ka san lallai “dan kauye ya shiga alkarya.”
Haka dai, haka dai. Ba shakka ko a 1982 wahalhalun da rashin kudi a aljihun gwamnati sun fara kunno kai. Duk abinda ake shigowa da shi musamman na abinci ya fara samun tangarda lokaci lokaci saboda rashin sa a cikin gari, ba saboda rashin kudi ba ko wai an soke. Na gaya muku karancin shinkafa da ta addabi kasar har ta sa muka yi zanga zanga a 1981. To haka yawan abincin an rage facakarsa ba kamar da ba. Amma dai akwai shi.
Ta fannin abubuwan da suka shafi karatu kam kamar yadda na zana komai tsab (intact), har muka gama, har muka fara koyarwa a jami’a a 1983. Wannan kuma shi ne muhimmi. Admissions duk ana samu cikin sauki. Da dai sauransu.
Haka ‘yan siyasa suka bar manyan makarantu, k’ila don suna jin tsoron tab’a su saboda rikici duk da cewa kasa ta fara daukan matakan tsuke bakin aljihu.
To amma da soja suka shigo, sai suka nuna har jami’o’i ma sai an tab’a su. Ga yanda abun ya canza daga dadin da na zayyana muku a sama zuwa wuyar da ake sha yanzu.
Soja? Soja na gomna marmari daga nesa. Na gwamna birgimar hankaka. Ai a cikin karamin lokaci suka sa Najeriya a hanya. Shiru kake ji. An yi irin ta Sayyidina Umar da wani sahabi da ya nuna mamakinsa da ya je gidan Umar ya iske Umar na wasa da yaransa. Sai Umar ya ce, kai ya kake yi in ka je gidanka. Sai ya ce, yana tsammani Umar zai yi murna da haka:
“Iza dakhaltu baiti
Ikhtafaz zahir
Wa sakatan nadiq
Wala takadu tasma’u fil baiti illa Hamsa.”
Wai
In na shiga gidana
Na bayyane sai ya buya
Mai magana sai yayi tsit
Ba abunda za ka ji a gidan sai rad’a.
Atake Umar ya sauke shi daga mukaminsa. Ya ce, “in baka da tausayin iyalinka, yaya za ka ji tausayin al’ummar Muhammadu?”
Ba abunda sojojin suka bari basu gyara masa zama ta hanyar da suka fahimta. Kowa tsoro ya kamashi. Yan siyasa duk an kama an garkame. Masu kudi haka, da yawa. Wannan ya sa an yi kowa ya shafawa kansa ruwa. Yan jarida aka sa musu takunkumi. Wurin fa ya zame “la takadu tasma’u fil baiti illa Hamsa” da gaske.
Malaman addini ma da suka yi jarumta suka fara suka saboda ana yin abinda ya sabawa sharia kamar tsare mutum sannan a fara neman laifinsa, sai aka ja musu kunne. Wasu ‘yan jarida biyu da suka nuna taurin kai su ma aka aika da su gidan yari, tuni. Wadanda suka nuna tawaye irin gyauron Maitatsine a Barno da Gombe da Yola, tuntuni aka shafe su, wasu ma ba da hakki ba tunda wadanda aka tura su nuna musu matsayinsu ba lalle ne su kiyaye da hakkoki ba. Kamar dai yadda ku ke gani yanzu game da Boko Haram. Gemu ya zame laifi. To haka tsangayoyi da dama suka shiga tasku. Wasu malaman allon ma dalilin ajalinsu ke nan.
A gwamnatance kuwa sai aka dau matakin tsai da duk abubuwan da ake shigowa da su in ba sun zama dole ba. Kwangiloli duka aka dakatar da su. Zan kawo misalin zuwa aikin Hajji a lokacin.
Da farko dai sai soja suka ce ba za a je ba don, a fadarsu aikin hajji sai da hali, "limanistada'a ilaihi sabila." To babu halin, in i su, tunda babu isassun kudaden waje. Da akA koka da yawa, sai suka sassauta. Suka ce to an yarda za a je, Amma za a rage yawan mutane saboda karancin kudin canji. Ina Jin mutum 100,000 suka je a 1983. To don a Samu hanyar zabar Wanda za su je bias adalci, sai aka hana zuwan yara, da masu ciki da sauransu. Kuma aka ce a manyan ma sai Wanda aka yiwa jarrabawa aka samu ya san kaidojin Hajji din. Ina tuna Jin Marigayi Kalarawi (Rahimahullah) watarana yana cewa har shi ma sai da ya bayyana a gaban komiti suka jarraba shi a Kano. Da aka kai masa tambayar farko, akace, "Farillan alwala nawa ne, Allah shi gafartawa Malam?" Kalarawi sai ya harzuka, ya ce, "Dubu ne."
Wannan dakace ya shafi ilmi a jami’o’i sosai. Na farko dai wasu jami’o’in ma kacaukau aka dakatar da su aka maida su tsangayoyi karkashin manyan jami’o’i. Kamar Jami’ar Abubakar Tafawa Balewa a Bauchi wacce aka mayar karkashin Jami’ar Ahmadu Bello, a Zaria. Wanda kawai suka sha su ne tsoffin jami’o’i da wadanda aka kafa a 1975.
To a cikin jami’o’in kun san akwai abubuwa da dole sai da kudin kasar waje. Alal misali, biyan malamai ‘yan waje, da zuwa kosakosai da tarukan karawa juna ilmi, da sayen mujallu da litattafai da kayakin bincike da sauransu. Wadannan kuma su ne ginshikin ilmin a manyan makarantu. In aka tsai da su, to fa, dole karatu zai raunana.
Haka ko aka yi. Tura kudi gida ya fara yiwa bak’in malamai wuya. Sai suka fara zare jiki. Wadanda kuma zamansu ya kare, sai sabonta kwangilar koyarwarsu ya fara zama da wuya. Mujallu kuwa aka dakatar da odar sabbi. In kunci sa’a kun yi doguwar oda a da tun zamanin Shagari kamar na shekara uku haka, to sai ku ci gaba da samun mujallu zuwa iyakar waadinku. Amma duk odar da wa’adinta ya kare, a kashi 90 cikin 100, ba a sake odar su ba sai bayan shekaru da yawa.
Ni a kan wannan ganau ne ba jiyau ba don lokacin ina koyarwa kuma ina dalibta. Don haka na san lokacin da aka aikawa duk sassa a Jami’ar Sakkwato cewa su zabi mujallu biyu ko uku kawai a fanninsu, su aikawa hukumar gudanarwar jami’a, sauran ashirin ko talatin kuwa a dakata tukuna. Da ni aka yi wannan.
Don haka da na dawo Msc a farkon 1985 a ABU inda nayi digirin farko, samun sabbin mujallu fa ya gagara sai dai k’alilan. Wanda ke son tabbatar da haka, yana iya zuwa dakin karatun jam’i’a mafi kusa a gunsa, ya duba mujallu nawa aka shigo da su a wannan lokacin kuma ya gwada yawansu da na shekarun baya. Aha. Don kar wani ya ce zuki tamalle na ke yi. Na samu wasunku yara ne na saki baki ina shirgata.
Rayuwar dalibai kuwa abubuwa cikin karamin lokaci fa suka fara canzawa, canjin da har yau ba a kuma komawa gidan lagwadar jiya ba. Nan da nan aka dakatar da dafawa yara abinci a dining hall. Ba zan san a wane wata ba ne takamamme (exactly). Amma na san ko da na dawo Msc a farkon 1985 don nayi jinkiri kadan ban dawo da abokai na ba tun 1984 saboda tunanin zan yi shi a Sakkwato, na samu wasu aka baiwa dakunan abincin haya su rika yin abincin da suka ga dama su sayar a yadda suka ga dama. Wata “Maman Kudi” muka samu a Umar Suleiman Hall, ABU. Abincin Yarbawa ne, wallahi yaji, kuma gaya kawai. Sannan kudin N1.00/plate.
In an bi wannan sigar, haka komai ya canza. Dakunan bincike suka fara rashin kayan bincike, malamai ba fita waje a yi karatu da sauransu. Dalibai wahala ta fara yawa. Sai hayakin risho ke tashi a kowane daki. Sauran abin da ya faru har zuwa yau kun fini sani.
To ba za a yi batun bacin ilmi idan ba a ambaci yadda matsalolin da aka samu wajen shigar dalibai (admission) ba. Ko da na koma yin PhD a 1988, gaskiya dalibai sun yi yawa a azuzuwa. Da mu shida kawai muka karanta B.Sc Botany a 1982 a ABU, amma a 1988 ba za ka rasa dalibai akalla sittin ko fiye da ke fita ba kowane shekara. Kafin a jima, sun kai daruruwa. Kayan aiki da malamai kuma basu kai na da ba. Wannan matsala ce saboda da aka dakatar da abubuwa da yawa, ba a dakatar da karuwar daliban da ake d’iba ba. Haka ya jawo kara lalacewar ilmi.
Daga nan, malamai ‘yan Najeriya suka yi ta barin jami’a suna komawa gwamnati, sannan suka yi ta fita waje aiki da sauransu. Wadanda suka rage a aikin jami’a kuwa sun ga tasku. Don har kusan karshen mulkin Babangida, ba a kara albashi ba bayan naira ta fadi warwas. Munga tasku. Muga samu mun ga rashi. Ta leko ta koma. Ni kam a 1993 sai na ki komawa koyarwa a jami’ar sakkwato da lifi (study leave) na ya kare. Don haka kana iya cewa kanka tsaye Dr. Tilde na cikin malaman da suka gudu daga koyarwa a jami’a (runaway academics). Na yarda. Duk da cewa abubuwa sun fara kyautata yanzu, komawa zai yi wuya. Sai dai a je a koyar don raha da nishadi kawai kamar yadda abokai na da yawa suke yi.
Ina ga zan tsaya a nan wajen bada k’issa ta. Sai dai kafin in barku, ya kamata in yi wani tsokaci daya ko biyu.
Na farko, su Buhari da kyakkyawar niyya suka dau matakin dakacen nan, suna fata da zarar abubuwa sun kyautata, sai a ci gaba da yin duk abun da ya kamata. Ko kadan ba su yi niyyar abun ya dauwama ba. Hatta dawowa mulkin farar hula, na sha jin na kusa da shi suna cewa suna da tsarin mai da mulki hannun farar hula amma sai abubuwa sun inganta kuma an gama dora kasar a kan turbar gaskiya. Wannan dole a fada don kau da mummunan zato wanda abokan gabar siyasar su za su yi wuf, su cafke su yi ta zargin su.
To, sai aka samu rashin sa’a. Mulkin Buhari bai dore ba. Tafiyar ta yi wabi. Aka yi wa Buhari juyin mulki a watan Agusta, 1985, bayan wata ashirin kawai da karbar mulki. Gwamnatocin da suka karbe su a gaskiya yana da wuya a karesu don an samu damar dawo da abubuwa da yawa amma aka kasa. Allah dai ya kyauta.
Na biyu, shi kansa matakin dakacen nan, a fargar jaji (watau with benefit of hindsight”), kuskure ne. Shi Buhari, da irin su babana Dr. Mahmud Tukur wanda shi ne Ministansa na Kasuwanci (commerce) da Masana’antu (industry) suna da halin filani na dogaro da kai da jurewa wahala. Kanda sun takaita wannan halin Zaman daji da suka gada a rayuwarsu ta kansu ne, to wannan daidai ne abun yabawa. To amma a mulkin mutane, ana bukatar sassauci a wasu abubuwan.
Kan da sun dau halin hausawa, da sun san cewa mulki da kasuwa a wannan zamanin dole sai da bashi in abubuwa sun kakare. To amma su a maimakon su dau bashi koda don su gudanar da muhimman abubuwa kamar na kiyaye ingancin karatu a manyan makarantu, sai suka gwammace su k’i karbar bashin, musamman ma da ya ke bashin yana da ka’idoji da ruwa. Kamar yadda na ce, da sun dau bashin da ya fi, kamar yadda muke ganin kasashen duniya suke yi yanzu da suka shiga halin karancin kudi.
Wani zai ce ai daga baya an d’au bashin, me ya tsinana? Banbancin shi ne kanda su Buhari ne suka d’au bashin da bani da shakka za su yi amfani da shi yadda ya kamata. To amma wadanda suka biyo bayansu ba su yi kamarsu ba. Su ma akwai irin nasu kamun ludayin (approach) ga mulki. Amma dai inaga an yi ittifak’i cewa gwamnatocin bayan yakamata a ce sun yi fiye da abin da suka yi. Su ma ba su sake kallon makarantu da idon rahama ba. Haka dai, haka dai.
A karshe, dole in ce gwamnati na da wahala kuma jama’a da yawa ke taruwa su yi ta. Amma ga al’ada, duk abin da aka yi, mai kyau ko mummuna, shugaban kasa ake jibgawa. Kuma dole ya yi hakuri da haka. Babba juji ne. Wannan bita ba niyyarta ba ne yin cikakken sharhi kan abubuwan da suka lalata ilmi gaba daya. A’a. Mun kawai duba juyin da aka samu ne a 1984 wanda kuma ya dawwama kusan har yanzu lokacin da dambun ya yi yawa.
Kurungus!
Na gode Allah da ya bani damar cika wannan alkawari. Da fatar an amfana. Allah ya sa taimake mu gaba daya.
Haza wasalam.
Aliyu
Bauchi
30 March 2012
Showing posts with label Education Nigeria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education Nigeria. Show all posts
Friday, March 30, 2012
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Utopia of Free Education
The Utopia of Free Education
aliyutilde@yahoo.com
One of the jobs I have been carrying out in the past six years is improvement of education in the public and community schools at the primary and secondary school levels. A month ago, I was privileged to attend a meeting of stakeholders on the matter in my state which was called at the instance of the Honourable Minister of State on Education. She was on an advocacy visit regarding girl child education.
The minister asked the participants to openly tell the reasons why many people do not want to send their daughters to schools in the North. The first contributor, a seasoned and retired educationist, observed that the major problem impeding education, including that of the girl child, is poverty. The solution to the problem, he concluded, is that government should make education free. His comment, of course, received the unanimous approval of the audience. Who would not like to get the most precious article on earth – education – free?
After the session, I went to greet the person who made the above comment and who was our supervisory headmaster while I was in the primary school. He expressed his disapproval of charging maintenance levy on pupils of some model public schools. I gently said if anyone parent is poor to afford the levy, government will waive it for him.
Earlier, one of the parents, a university lecturer and political activist, has petitioned my boss challenging the authority of the Board I am heading to charge the levy parents. The core of his argument was that the UBE Act has clearly stated that education in public primary and junior secondary schools must be free. To support his position, the petitioner cited the section of the UBE Act, 2004, including the section stating the penalty for whoever charges any fees in any public school. One fact that links this petitioner and that contributor at the stakeholders’ meeting is that both are ‘victims’ of this ‘terrible’ policy that requires them to pay maintenance levy.
History
We have been living under the utopia of free education in public schools for almost a century now. During the colonial days, education was free because it was a product that had to be sold and, like a promotion, it had to be given free, especially in the northern part of the country where its acceptance met with stiff resistance. We do not need to go into details on this.
During the First Republic, the Premier of the Western region, Chief Awolowo, championed the cause of free education. With ‘abundance’ as the central objective of his manifesto, he pursued with an impressive commitment his vision of a West that is rich in human resources that has unquestionably yielded dividends today.
To be fair to the Premiers of the other two or three regions, they differed from Awolowo only in emphasis. They did not commercialise public schools in any case. Whatever fees were paid in public schools under their domain were not to offset cost; they were rather seen as the contribution of parents to development. Besides, there was a lot of aid coming in from UNESCO in form of school materials.
In the North again, education remained more or less free during the Gowon era, though one can still remember that fees were charged. Harry used to pay N12.00 (the equivalent of, say, N6,000.00 today) in 1973 in the public boarding secondary school he attended in the defunct Northeastern State. The irony was that the government used to pay him N10.00 as ‘journey money’ back to his village at the end of every term! This is not to mention the free accommodation, books, meals, etc which he enjoyed in the same school. Why charging the fees in the first place, if Harry might ask?
Obasanjo might have asked the same question as Harry and without any convincing answer, he launched the Universal Primary Education program in 1977. As a beneficiary of the concept in the Southwest three decades earlier, the Head of State in his own wisdom thought it was time to revive the dream and allow it cover the entire country. So let nothing be paid, and in return, every Nigerian child will be educated. Educationists have criticised the UPE approach and lamented its woeful failure but they have never stopped singing its song of free education. And parents are giving them a loud applause.
It was not surprising, therefore, that the return of Obasanjo in 1999 saw the reintroduction of the UPE project, now called Universal Basic Education to include the three years of junior secondary school. And still, educationists are singing the song of free education and the parents continue to give them the loudest applause. This is the context, I think, of the objection in some quarters to the maintenance levy in some six schools in my state.
The Law
The legitimacy of any action is judged by the dictates of the law regarding it. The primary law currently in force on basic education is The Compulsory, Free, Universal Basic Education Law, 2004, henceforth called UBE Act 2004 in this article. The sections in the Act that deal with free education are given below:
“2. (1) Every Government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.
(2) Every parent shall ensure that his child or ward attends and completes his (a) primary education (b) junior secondary school education by endeavouring to send the child to primary and junior secondary schools.
(3) The stakeholders in education in a Local Government Area, shall ensure that every parent or person who has the care and custody of a child performs the duty imposed on him under section 2(2) of this Act.
3. (1) The services provided in public primary and junior secondary schools shall be free of charge.
(2) A person who receives or obtains any fee contrary to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding N10,000.00 of 3 months or to both.
4. (1). Every parent must ensure that his child receives full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude by regular attendance at school.”
Any layman reading the above sections of the law will not help but conclude that he is a victim of unjust policy if he is asked to pay any levy in a school. And educationist, not being lawyers, can be forgiven if they read the above quoted sections of the law and continue singing the hymn of free education at every opportunity. Lawyers, in any case, will think differently.
Interpretation
What the lawyer would do is to look at the interpretation given to the key elements in construction of Section 3 (1) of the UBE Act which says: “The services provided in public primary and junior secondary schools shall be free of charge.” By the time he is done with the interpretation, he will conclude that both the educationists and the parents were only judging a book by its cover.
The essential questions to ask here are two: what does the law mean by “public school”? And what does it mean by “services”? Section 15 of the Act gives a detailed explanation: “Public School, Public Primary School, or Junior Secondary School means a school, primary or junior secondary school, as the case may be, which is assisted out of funds provided by the Federal or State Government or a local education authority or a local government or is maintained by a local education authority or a local government. On the other hand, the section says, “Services that should be provided free of charge are books, instructional materials, classrooms, furniture and free lunch.” Period.
The lawyer will immediately understand that since books, instructional materials, classrooms, furniture and free lunch are not the only requirements of a good school, other aspects of education not enlisted in the interpretation may not be free, according to the Act. It is obvious that transporting a child to a school cannot be free; hence, the school bus may not be free either. Even examinations could not be free; hence, we find the federal government charging for the National Common Entrance Examination and ministries too charge ‘administrative charges’ annually. I can even say keeping the school environment clean or maintaining its structural facilities other than classrooms may not be free. And so on. The government here is wise.
Another point to note is that these services can be free only where they exist and provided by government. Where government builds a school but does not provide it with books, instructional materials or free lunch, parents then could be charged for these services whenever alternative arrangements are made to secure them. The law understands the impossibility of providing them to every Nigerian child. However, where they are provided by government in a public school or in another school where the government assisted in the provision of such services, the law maintains that the services should be free.
Governments have to a large part abided by the above regulations. In fact it is difficult to recall where the law is flouted by any public school or government agency. The question that an intelligent person should ask here is the type of free education is government providing? Is it the type of education that our educationists are happy with and does it meet the expectation of parents? Is the education which government gives in majority of our public schools the one envisaged by our national policy on education and the UBE Act?
History seems to be repeating itself here. Before the introduction of UPE in the 1977, regions and state governments had the independence of controlling the growth of their education sub-sector. They established schools, i.e. building them, employing teachers, providing working materials and maintaining them commensurate with their income and the thrust of their policies. When in its wisdom the then military government decided to ram the concept of universal free education down their throat, the issue of planning was abandoned. Schools were opened recklessly without sufficient trained teachers, with only few teaching materials and a large payroll which in subsequent years was difficult to maintain. In the subsequent civilian regime, many state governments could not pay teachers’ salaries for a whole year. This necessitated the central control of primary schools through NPEC with the federal government sending salaries of teachers directly in the allocations of local governments. This helped to guarantee salaries but the payroll has grown so big that to date it has monopolised the expenditure of education in all states.
Next are building structures and furniture, which where supplied is guaranteed to last only a year or so. Teaching materials, which include books, stationeries, consumables, and instructional materials are hardly supplied. As a result, even in the few cases where classrooms exist and teachers are paid salaries, no learning is taking place due to lack of teaching materials, inadequate supervision, and terribly poor management of the little resources available. This explains why children are asked to buy chalk, carry desks to school, supply their answer sheets, etc. Therefore, there is obviously no magic in the falling standard of education. And if parents are happy with this, education can remain free for ever.
Solution
Parents are of course not happy with the situation. They hate seeing the ugly situation where majority of pupils in public schools finish their school without knowing how to read a single sentence. To construct a bad one, they need to be in the university. Parents justifiably want qualitative education for their children. But if they want it free, they need to look at the statistics.
Briefly, according to Statistical Information on Basic Education in Nigeria 2003, a publication of Universal Basic Education Commission, Nigerian parents have as at 2003 a total 37,661,396 children who are between the age of 5 and 15, the boundaries covered under the UPE Act and who the government has promised good standard of education. The National Policy on Education has limited the number of pupils per class to 30. To meet the demand of classroom structures alone the nation requires N1,255,379,866,666.67 or N1.26 trillion at the moderate contract rate of N3million per classroom block of three classes. More than this amount will be required to provide other services: furniture, toilets, laboratories, sporting facilities, workshops, offices, staff housing, salaries and allowances, books, class and field equipment, instructional materials, etc.
The sad thing is that these buildings will hardly last five years without the need to renovate them or build them afresh if a good school environment is required. The equipment, books and other supplies may hardly last two years, if they reach the school at all, while salaries and allowances are recurrent. More saddening is the fact that these supplies will disappear not in the government houses but between the ministries of education and schools where our educationists who want free education are fully responsible.
There is little room left for the prudent who is interested in educating the pupils under him but to turn to parents for contribution given the following reasons: One, the ever fast-growing population which is exacerbated by over-utilisation of the cultural licence and untamed libido that allows a pensioner at 65 to marry a “fresh growth”, thus leaving behind at his death a crowd of children for the country to cater for; two, the above statistics covers only basic education and that there is an equal expenditure required for senior secondary and tertiary institutions; three, government has competing demands on its income and education is notoriously viewed as a black hole especially in a democracy; four, that we are the second or third most corrupt country in the world, such that even if trillions are voted for education, and mind you they do not exist, only a little will trickle down to the child in the village or town neighbourhoods; five, the incontestable history of the failure of UPE before leaves little reason for us to invest any hope in the success of the present UBE; and six, the poor standard of education in our public schools due to lack of funding and poor management.
The truth is that government may promise but it hardly fulfils its promise due to so many obstacles. I have, for example, counted over twenty-one promises which government made under the National Policy on Education at the debut of UPE. After thirty years, not a single promise is sufficiently fulfilled in our public schools. Everything has ended in a dream. A prudent parent will not wait for a Father Christmas that may never turn up, or when he does, it will be around February, too late to be of any benefit to the Christmas celebration of his child. The parent will instead go to the market, with the little he has, and shop for the child. A smile from his effort which comes on time is better than a laughter that may come later when the generous Father Christmas turns up in February.
While government has impressively maintained the payments of salaries in the last few years, schools must find means of providing other services in order to deliver the good education envisaged by the UBE Act. Charging levies for any extra-government effort in our public schools, therefore, has become necessary and does not contravene the law in any way. In this vein, Federal Government charges a myriad of levies in every Federal Government College, including pupils in the junior classes.
The alternative is for educationist to continue to live under the utopia of free education, parents responding to their songs with wide smiles, and their children wallowing in ignorance forever. A very poor parent can have the levy waived, for it will be brutal to send his child away. He will pay back the society later through his service when he grows. But those who can pay, and they are over 80% in such schools, should be patriotic enough to do so.
Before I conclude the article, I will like to appeal to Nigerians to please open their eyes and see the light of reality. Some have already done so for decades now. They have not failed to commit every kobo they earn to the sound education of their children. Northerners, particularly the so called Hausa-Fulani, must wake up, set up private and community schools and spend all that is necessary for the sound education of their children, as do parents from other ethnic groups. Yesterday, in Jos, I was shown a Birom woman who carries out petty trading at New Market through which she supports her four undergraduate sons and daughter. If it were not a cultural taboo, I would have given her a big hug publicly.
In conclusion, any public servant or parent that will choose the preponderance of our poor standard of education in quest for the utopia of free education is irresponsible and grossly ignorant of the law. And if, despite reading this article, he will continue to question me on the levies that have become necessary to guarantee the high standard of education of his children in some of our public schools, I will not hesitate to adopt the el-Rufai option: Silence is the best answer.
aliyutilde@yahoo.com
One of the jobs I have been carrying out in the past six years is improvement of education in the public and community schools at the primary and secondary school levels. A month ago, I was privileged to attend a meeting of stakeholders on the matter in my state which was called at the instance of the Honourable Minister of State on Education. She was on an advocacy visit regarding girl child education.
The minister asked the participants to openly tell the reasons why many people do not want to send their daughters to schools in the North. The first contributor, a seasoned and retired educationist, observed that the major problem impeding education, including that of the girl child, is poverty. The solution to the problem, he concluded, is that government should make education free. His comment, of course, received the unanimous approval of the audience. Who would not like to get the most precious article on earth – education – free?
After the session, I went to greet the person who made the above comment and who was our supervisory headmaster while I was in the primary school. He expressed his disapproval of charging maintenance levy on pupils of some model public schools. I gently said if anyone parent is poor to afford the levy, government will waive it for him.
Earlier, one of the parents, a university lecturer and political activist, has petitioned my boss challenging the authority of the Board I am heading to charge the levy parents. The core of his argument was that the UBE Act has clearly stated that education in public primary and junior secondary schools must be free. To support his position, the petitioner cited the section of the UBE Act, 2004, including the section stating the penalty for whoever charges any fees in any public school. One fact that links this petitioner and that contributor at the stakeholders’ meeting is that both are ‘victims’ of this ‘terrible’ policy that requires them to pay maintenance levy.
History
We have been living under the utopia of free education in public schools for almost a century now. During the colonial days, education was free because it was a product that had to be sold and, like a promotion, it had to be given free, especially in the northern part of the country where its acceptance met with stiff resistance. We do not need to go into details on this.
During the First Republic, the Premier of the Western region, Chief Awolowo, championed the cause of free education. With ‘abundance’ as the central objective of his manifesto, he pursued with an impressive commitment his vision of a West that is rich in human resources that has unquestionably yielded dividends today.
To be fair to the Premiers of the other two or three regions, they differed from Awolowo only in emphasis. They did not commercialise public schools in any case. Whatever fees were paid in public schools under their domain were not to offset cost; they were rather seen as the contribution of parents to development. Besides, there was a lot of aid coming in from UNESCO in form of school materials.
In the North again, education remained more or less free during the Gowon era, though one can still remember that fees were charged. Harry used to pay N12.00 (the equivalent of, say, N6,000.00 today) in 1973 in the public boarding secondary school he attended in the defunct Northeastern State. The irony was that the government used to pay him N10.00 as ‘journey money’ back to his village at the end of every term! This is not to mention the free accommodation, books, meals, etc which he enjoyed in the same school. Why charging the fees in the first place, if Harry might ask?
Obasanjo might have asked the same question as Harry and without any convincing answer, he launched the Universal Primary Education program in 1977. As a beneficiary of the concept in the Southwest three decades earlier, the Head of State in his own wisdom thought it was time to revive the dream and allow it cover the entire country. So let nothing be paid, and in return, every Nigerian child will be educated. Educationists have criticised the UPE approach and lamented its woeful failure but they have never stopped singing its song of free education. And parents are giving them a loud applause.
It was not surprising, therefore, that the return of Obasanjo in 1999 saw the reintroduction of the UPE project, now called Universal Basic Education to include the three years of junior secondary school. And still, educationists are singing the song of free education and the parents continue to give them the loudest applause. This is the context, I think, of the objection in some quarters to the maintenance levy in some six schools in my state.
The Law
The legitimacy of any action is judged by the dictates of the law regarding it. The primary law currently in force on basic education is The Compulsory, Free, Universal Basic Education Law, 2004, henceforth called UBE Act 2004 in this article. The sections in the Act that deal with free education are given below:
“2. (1) Every Government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.
(2) Every parent shall ensure that his child or ward attends and completes his (a) primary education (b) junior secondary school education by endeavouring to send the child to primary and junior secondary schools.
(3) The stakeholders in education in a Local Government Area, shall ensure that every parent or person who has the care and custody of a child performs the duty imposed on him under section 2(2) of this Act.
3. (1) The services provided in public primary and junior secondary schools shall be free of charge.
(2) A person who receives or obtains any fee contrary to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding N10,000.00 of 3 months or to both.
4. (1). Every parent must ensure that his child receives full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude by regular attendance at school.”
Any layman reading the above sections of the law will not help but conclude that he is a victim of unjust policy if he is asked to pay any levy in a school. And educationist, not being lawyers, can be forgiven if they read the above quoted sections of the law and continue singing the hymn of free education at every opportunity. Lawyers, in any case, will think differently.
Interpretation
What the lawyer would do is to look at the interpretation given to the key elements in construction of Section 3 (1) of the UBE Act which says: “The services provided in public primary and junior secondary schools shall be free of charge.” By the time he is done with the interpretation, he will conclude that both the educationists and the parents were only judging a book by its cover.
The essential questions to ask here are two: what does the law mean by “public school”? And what does it mean by “services”? Section 15 of the Act gives a detailed explanation: “Public School, Public Primary School, or Junior Secondary School means a school, primary or junior secondary school, as the case may be, which is assisted out of funds provided by the Federal or State Government or a local education authority or a local government or is maintained by a local education authority or a local government. On the other hand, the section says, “Services that should be provided free of charge are books, instructional materials, classrooms, furniture and free lunch.” Period.
The lawyer will immediately understand that since books, instructional materials, classrooms, furniture and free lunch are not the only requirements of a good school, other aspects of education not enlisted in the interpretation may not be free, according to the Act. It is obvious that transporting a child to a school cannot be free; hence, the school bus may not be free either. Even examinations could not be free; hence, we find the federal government charging for the National Common Entrance Examination and ministries too charge ‘administrative charges’ annually. I can even say keeping the school environment clean or maintaining its structural facilities other than classrooms may not be free. And so on. The government here is wise.
Another point to note is that these services can be free only where they exist and provided by government. Where government builds a school but does not provide it with books, instructional materials or free lunch, parents then could be charged for these services whenever alternative arrangements are made to secure them. The law understands the impossibility of providing them to every Nigerian child. However, where they are provided by government in a public school or in another school where the government assisted in the provision of such services, the law maintains that the services should be free.
Governments have to a large part abided by the above regulations. In fact it is difficult to recall where the law is flouted by any public school or government agency. The question that an intelligent person should ask here is the type of free education is government providing? Is it the type of education that our educationists are happy with and does it meet the expectation of parents? Is the education which government gives in majority of our public schools the one envisaged by our national policy on education and the UBE Act?
History seems to be repeating itself here. Before the introduction of UPE in the 1977, regions and state governments had the independence of controlling the growth of their education sub-sector. They established schools, i.e. building them, employing teachers, providing working materials and maintaining them commensurate with their income and the thrust of their policies. When in its wisdom the then military government decided to ram the concept of universal free education down their throat, the issue of planning was abandoned. Schools were opened recklessly without sufficient trained teachers, with only few teaching materials and a large payroll which in subsequent years was difficult to maintain. In the subsequent civilian regime, many state governments could not pay teachers’ salaries for a whole year. This necessitated the central control of primary schools through NPEC with the federal government sending salaries of teachers directly in the allocations of local governments. This helped to guarantee salaries but the payroll has grown so big that to date it has monopolised the expenditure of education in all states.
Next are building structures and furniture, which where supplied is guaranteed to last only a year or so. Teaching materials, which include books, stationeries, consumables, and instructional materials are hardly supplied. As a result, even in the few cases where classrooms exist and teachers are paid salaries, no learning is taking place due to lack of teaching materials, inadequate supervision, and terribly poor management of the little resources available. This explains why children are asked to buy chalk, carry desks to school, supply their answer sheets, etc. Therefore, there is obviously no magic in the falling standard of education. And if parents are happy with this, education can remain free for ever.
Solution
Parents are of course not happy with the situation. They hate seeing the ugly situation where majority of pupils in public schools finish their school without knowing how to read a single sentence. To construct a bad one, they need to be in the university. Parents justifiably want qualitative education for their children. But if they want it free, they need to look at the statistics.
Briefly, according to Statistical Information on Basic Education in Nigeria 2003, a publication of Universal Basic Education Commission, Nigerian parents have as at 2003 a total 37,661,396 children who are between the age of 5 and 15, the boundaries covered under the UPE Act and who the government has promised good standard of education. The National Policy on Education has limited the number of pupils per class to 30. To meet the demand of classroom structures alone the nation requires N1,255,379,866,666.67 or N1.26 trillion at the moderate contract rate of N3million per classroom block of three classes. More than this amount will be required to provide other services: furniture, toilets, laboratories, sporting facilities, workshops, offices, staff housing, salaries and allowances, books, class and field equipment, instructional materials, etc.
The sad thing is that these buildings will hardly last five years without the need to renovate them or build them afresh if a good school environment is required. The equipment, books and other supplies may hardly last two years, if they reach the school at all, while salaries and allowances are recurrent. More saddening is the fact that these supplies will disappear not in the government houses but between the ministries of education and schools where our educationists who want free education are fully responsible.
There is little room left for the prudent who is interested in educating the pupils under him but to turn to parents for contribution given the following reasons: One, the ever fast-growing population which is exacerbated by over-utilisation of the cultural licence and untamed libido that allows a pensioner at 65 to marry a “fresh growth”, thus leaving behind at his death a crowd of children for the country to cater for; two, the above statistics covers only basic education and that there is an equal expenditure required for senior secondary and tertiary institutions; three, government has competing demands on its income and education is notoriously viewed as a black hole especially in a democracy; four, that we are the second or third most corrupt country in the world, such that even if trillions are voted for education, and mind you they do not exist, only a little will trickle down to the child in the village or town neighbourhoods; five, the incontestable history of the failure of UPE before leaves little reason for us to invest any hope in the success of the present UBE; and six, the poor standard of education in our public schools due to lack of funding and poor management.
The truth is that government may promise but it hardly fulfils its promise due to so many obstacles. I have, for example, counted over twenty-one promises which government made under the National Policy on Education at the debut of UPE. After thirty years, not a single promise is sufficiently fulfilled in our public schools. Everything has ended in a dream. A prudent parent will not wait for a Father Christmas that may never turn up, or when he does, it will be around February, too late to be of any benefit to the Christmas celebration of his child. The parent will instead go to the market, with the little he has, and shop for the child. A smile from his effort which comes on time is better than a laughter that may come later when the generous Father Christmas turns up in February.
While government has impressively maintained the payments of salaries in the last few years, schools must find means of providing other services in order to deliver the good education envisaged by the UBE Act. Charging levies for any extra-government effort in our public schools, therefore, has become necessary and does not contravene the law in any way. In this vein, Federal Government charges a myriad of levies in every Federal Government College, including pupils in the junior classes.
The alternative is for educationist to continue to live under the utopia of free education, parents responding to their songs with wide smiles, and their children wallowing in ignorance forever. A very poor parent can have the levy waived, for it will be brutal to send his child away. He will pay back the society later through his service when he grows. But those who can pay, and they are over 80% in such schools, should be patriotic enough to do so.
Before I conclude the article, I will like to appeal to Nigerians to please open their eyes and see the light of reality. Some have already done so for decades now. They have not failed to commit every kobo they earn to the sound education of their children. Northerners, particularly the so called Hausa-Fulani, must wake up, set up private and community schools and spend all that is necessary for the sound education of their children, as do parents from other ethnic groups. Yesterday, in Jos, I was shown a Birom woman who carries out petty trading at New Market through which she supports her four undergraduate sons and daughter. If it were not a cultural taboo, I would have given her a big hug publicly.
In conclusion, any public servant or parent that will choose the preponderance of our poor standard of education in quest for the utopia of free education is irresponsible and grossly ignorant of the law. And if, despite reading this article, he will continue to question me on the levies that have become necessary to guarantee the high standard of education of his children in some of our public schools, I will not hesitate to adopt the el-Rufai option: Silence is the best answer.
For the Eyes of Neco Registrar
For the Eyes of NECO Registrar
aliyutilde@yahoo.com
I was on a visit to Sokoto when a friend informed me of the admission fraud taking place in some Federal Government Colleges. He narrated to me what happened to his daughter whom he felt has been cheated by unscrupulous parents in Lagos . What actually happened is that Mustapha Ibrahim, the father, is an indigene of Sokoto State living in Lagos with intense interest in educating his children, well, like many other parents these days. One of his daughters attended a private school in Lagos and sat for the National Common Entrance Examination, both sittings, and scored fairly good marks, enough to earn her admission into the College of her first choice – Queen’s College Yaba, Lagos – if not merit, at least on state quota.
When the admission results came out, Mustapha visited the school to find out whether his daughter is listed among the princesses. Unfortunately, she was not and, naturally, he was covered with sadness. His dream – and that of his daughter – of pursuing an academic career in the best girls’ college in the country has been shattered. She will not be a princess.
Perhaps, he implied, the girl did not perform very well. After all, Queen’s college is very competitive. So he headed home. But before he could leave the premises of the school, the voice of curiosity called and counselled: “Return to the board and find out who were those more beautiful indigenes of Sokoto that blocked the chance of his daughter and what actually were their measurements.” It was there that his sadness turned into the anger that remains to date. He is busy since that day going into every relevant office and dropping his infuriating findings.
First of all, he found that the only one girl was admitted from Sokoto state, instead of two. Aha, marginalisation, he cried. He recalled that the policy on unity schools allocates two candidates to every state in every federal government college outside its boundaries. Here, even on this basis, Mustapha reasoned, there is a room for the accommodation of his daughter in the prestigious school.
The second and most surprising observation was the name of the only girl admitted from Sokoto on quota – Mabudu Modinat – with registration number 154776BB who attended Aunty Ayo International School , Eti Osa, Lagos . Modinat scored 182 points in the second test. Mustapha quickly went into analysis. Modinat, he thought, must be a Yoruba by tribe, not only from her surname Mabudu which does not exist in Hausa but also from the first name. If she were from Sokoto, the first name – Modinat -would have read Madina, with an ‘a’ instead of ‘o’ and without the last t, the placement of which is peculiar only to Yoruba nomenclature.
In addition, if Modinat had schooled at Sokoto there would have been a probability of her being an indigene of Sokoto State since there are thousands of southerners who acquired indigene status through sheer residency in the North. But Modinat schooled at Aunty Ayo International School at Eti-Osa, Lagos !
Modinat could be an isolated case, Mustapha reflected with caution. But pressed further by the ‘devil’ of curiosity, he tried to see if his conclusion on the fraudulent candidature of Modinat can be confirmed by the situation in other states. He went through the admissions given to candidates of other states, especially those from the North. Here, the fraud became clear. The coincidence, even if there was any, requires the probability of the Big Bang to happen. ‘Modinat’ was a universal phenomenon on the list pasted at Queen’s college. What applied to Sokoto also applied to many states of the far North.
Mustapha quickly copied his findings and believing that he has discovered a fraud in an era when the government is fighting fraudulent practices in all their manifestations he printed them in a table and started circulating the copies to all the states concerned through their liaison offices in Lagos . He also distributed them to some newspapers, all with the hope that the concerned will be triggered to wake up and fight for the right of the poor children so cheated.
So far, as at when we met in Sokoto a fortnight ago, nothing has come out of the complaint from any government in the North. The issue is perhaps moving from one desk to another before finally it reaches the Commissioner of Education of each state who will then write a memo to His Excellency who will in turn direct the Honorable Commissioner on what to do. That blessing of His Excellency will take several months to get, if it ever comes on matters like this. Finally from the commissioner downwards, a couple of years will be needed before any action is taken.
Now I feel we do not need to wait. I can now understand why my son, Abba, could not get admission into King’s College Lagos. But that is not the issue here. What is at stake is Justice. In the remaining paragraphs, I have presented my contribution as to how the fraud could be avoided and I sincerely hope that the authorities concerned, namely NECO, Federal Ministry of Education, all the Federal Government Colleges and all State Ministries of Education, will take note of them. I have given the full data on the discovery of Malam Mustapha at Queen’s College in the table that appears on this page.
First, let us note that neither the Federal Ministry of Education nor NECO has any fault in this. Objectively, we must dissociate them from any blame. In fact NECO deserves our commendation in that it has computerised the admissions into Federal Government Colleges. That is remarkable, and the computerisation, in spite of its limitations, must remain. It is the surest road to justice.
The situation is brought about by the fraudulent intent and behaviour of parents who know that the computer can never detect, as the human mind would do, any fraud when a parent filling the form for his child decides to fill the wrong state code with the intention of stealing the quota of that state. We understand that stakes are high but parents wishing a better tomorrow for Nigeria should not train their children in corruption at an age as early as ten.
Once the computer is fed with that wrong information, like Ejiegbu Ngozi (Sokoto), Onitiju Afolarera (Kebbi), Fagbuyi Seun (Katsina), Kusuji Folashade (Jigawa), Onuogu Nkechi (Adamawa), Afun Anu Oluwapo (Yobe) and Badejo Omoshalewa (Nasarawa), there is nothing it can do but sort them out as valid indigenes of the respective states indicated. So after both the first and second tests, it will go ahead to award them admissions into schools of their choice based on quota and other criteria like merit and environment. Obviously, NECO will go ahead, especially under pressure to release the results from the public, to issue admission letters as sorted out by the computer. This is the height of transparency. The fault of the computer is that it is not a Nigerian.
NECO can do very little than the computer if we consider that there are hundreds of thousands of candidates applying to sit for the exams. Using the computer also discounts the prejudices of the human factor. Thus, given the quantum of work and the pervasive degree of nepotism among Nigerians, using the computer to collate results and award admissions remains imperative.
Having established the need to use the computer and having also established its inability to detecting fraud of the kind in question, we must move to the manual domain to find a solution to the problem. Fraudulent parents in Lagos and other urban centres will continue to claim states to which they do not belong. They will not stop the practice until and unless they are deterred from it following the following measures.
One, the duty to check the state of origin of the admitted students lies with the schools. When a candidate with the name Onuogu Nkechi arrives at Queen’s College to register, normally she will be required according to the requirements of NECO to present an indigene certificate of a local government in the Jigawa State she claims to come from. The school authority using its sixth sense should automatically notice the near impossibility of Nkechi’s claim such that if she fails to produce the indigene certificate or presents a fake one her admission will be cancelled. However, not all schools I realise have the sixth sense, and those who do may not be interested in using it. That is why all thirteen candidates in the list shown in the table are confirmed sitting tight in the classrooms of Queen’s College, right now.
So we need an additional check point on our road to justice. A second suggestion is that NECO, I will advise, should take the extra pain and cost of sorting out and printing all admissions given to each state nationwide. It will then examine every admission, since the admitted candidates are very much fewer than the candidates that applied. I believe it will be in a position to raise many questions regarding the admissions. For example, it would have found out that half of the fraudulent practice at Queen’s College came from a school called Tinubu Methodist Primary School on Lagos Island . Any surprise, when the His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos state, another Tinubu, narrowly escaped impeachment on allegations of fake certificates some three years ago? NECO can then decide to take punitive measures against such primary schools and, as well, dismiss the candidates involved in the fraud, regardless of their levels in the schools. This is the price for their underrating the intelligence of NECO and miscalculating its sense of prudence. It is the deterrent of future occurrence.
Thirdly, NECO should trek the extra mile to send the printout of the sorted list to every Ministry of Education such that it is left to the state to pursue its case or not whenever it discovers a foul play is committed against it. It will raise the case with NECO and demand a reinstatement of its right. I believe NECO will be very willing to oblige. This option alone would have solved the problem if it were not for the ineptitude of our state Ministries of Education.
The best option lies in the combination of the three: getting schools use their sixth sense, where they have one; NECO scanning the results with the intention to fish out the fraud itself and advise the schools to be on the alert; and NECO, still, sending the printout to states who we implore should take particular and immediate interest in ascertaining the indigeneship of every candidate bearing their names.
I know the Registrar of NECO to be among the few Nigerians in position of authority today who hate fraud to the core, just like his JAMB counterpart. I am sure when this article reaches NECO Registrar, he will, I predict, set up a committee to investigate the matter and he will be the first to order the dismissal of all candidates who have gained admission through this fraudulent manner in the past and present. I hope the composition of this committee will not be limited to NECO officials alone. There is the need for concerned people like Mal. Mustapha Ibrahim to participate in the exercise.
While I invest my hope in the Registrar, I implore on those of us concerned to grant him the time to investigate the matter accordingly. On our part, we assure him of our indomitable defence against the assault ballistics of the parents affected. Mr. Registrar, you remain our only hope, now and in the future.
S/No Candidates Names Exams No. Schools attended State of origin Admission Remarks Scores
73 Ejiegbu A. Ngozi 168738CJ Tinubu Methodist Pry. Lagos Island , Lagos Sokoto Merit 186
147 Mabudu Modinat 154776BB Aunty Ayo Intl. School , Eti-Osa, Lagos Sokoto State Quota 182
146 Osinmade 168723HE Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Sokoto State Quota 184
125 Onitiju Afolarera 168750JA Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Kebbi State Quota 181
123 Fagbuyi Seun 168761FH Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Katsina State Quota 183
102 Kasumu Kemi 168740CD Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Bauchi State Quota 184
40 Kusiji Folashade 168781JE Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Jigawa Merit 188
117 Ayolagbe B. Bisola 168319FC Qatob Day Nursery/Pry. School, Ikeja, Lagos Jigawa State Quota 184
118 Umeco Victory 188806GC Prince Charles Intl. School , Ajeromi/Ifelodun, Lagos Jigawa State Quota 176
243 Onuogu Nkechi 154879JA Air Force Pry. School, Eti-Osa, Lagos Adamawa State Quota 171
96 Tokumba Tutua 340204CC Ebun Oluwa Nursery/Pry. School, Ikeja, Lagos Adamawa State Quota 180
150 Afun Anu Oluwapo 256815CG Emmanuel Pry. School, Kosofe, Lagos Yobe State Quota 179
161 Badejo M. Omoshalewa 168398FF Qatob Day Nursery/Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Nasarawa State Quota 173
Admission of Northern States candidates into Queen’s College – Yaba Lagos (2004/2005 session) based on quota system.
aliyutilde@yahoo.com
I was on a visit to Sokoto when a friend informed me of the admission fraud taking place in some Federal Government Colleges. He narrated to me what happened to his daughter whom he felt has been cheated by unscrupulous parents in Lagos . What actually happened is that Mustapha Ibrahim, the father, is an indigene of Sokoto State living in Lagos with intense interest in educating his children, well, like many other parents these days. One of his daughters attended a private school in Lagos and sat for the National Common Entrance Examination, both sittings, and scored fairly good marks, enough to earn her admission into the College of her first choice – Queen’s College Yaba, Lagos – if not merit, at least on state quota.
When the admission results came out, Mustapha visited the school to find out whether his daughter is listed among the princesses. Unfortunately, she was not and, naturally, he was covered with sadness. His dream – and that of his daughter – of pursuing an academic career in the best girls’ college in the country has been shattered. She will not be a princess.
Perhaps, he implied, the girl did not perform very well. After all, Queen’s college is very competitive. So he headed home. But before he could leave the premises of the school, the voice of curiosity called and counselled: “Return to the board and find out who were those more beautiful indigenes of Sokoto that blocked the chance of his daughter and what actually were their measurements.” It was there that his sadness turned into the anger that remains to date. He is busy since that day going into every relevant office and dropping his infuriating findings.
First of all, he found that the only one girl was admitted from Sokoto state, instead of two. Aha, marginalisation, he cried. He recalled that the policy on unity schools allocates two candidates to every state in every federal government college outside its boundaries. Here, even on this basis, Mustapha reasoned, there is a room for the accommodation of his daughter in the prestigious school.
The second and most surprising observation was the name of the only girl admitted from Sokoto on quota – Mabudu Modinat – with registration number 154776BB who attended Aunty Ayo International School , Eti Osa, Lagos . Modinat scored 182 points in the second test. Mustapha quickly went into analysis. Modinat, he thought, must be a Yoruba by tribe, not only from her surname Mabudu which does not exist in Hausa but also from the first name. If she were from Sokoto, the first name – Modinat -would have read Madina, with an ‘a’ instead of ‘o’ and without the last t, the placement of which is peculiar only to Yoruba nomenclature.
In addition, if Modinat had schooled at Sokoto there would have been a probability of her being an indigene of Sokoto State since there are thousands of southerners who acquired indigene status through sheer residency in the North. But Modinat schooled at Aunty Ayo International School at Eti-Osa, Lagos !
Modinat could be an isolated case, Mustapha reflected with caution. But pressed further by the ‘devil’ of curiosity, he tried to see if his conclusion on the fraudulent candidature of Modinat can be confirmed by the situation in other states. He went through the admissions given to candidates of other states, especially those from the North. Here, the fraud became clear. The coincidence, even if there was any, requires the probability of the Big Bang to happen. ‘Modinat’ was a universal phenomenon on the list pasted at Queen’s college. What applied to Sokoto also applied to many states of the far North.
Mustapha quickly copied his findings and believing that he has discovered a fraud in an era when the government is fighting fraudulent practices in all their manifestations he printed them in a table and started circulating the copies to all the states concerned through their liaison offices in Lagos . He also distributed them to some newspapers, all with the hope that the concerned will be triggered to wake up and fight for the right of the poor children so cheated.
So far, as at when we met in Sokoto a fortnight ago, nothing has come out of the complaint from any government in the North. The issue is perhaps moving from one desk to another before finally it reaches the Commissioner of Education of each state who will then write a memo to His Excellency who will in turn direct the Honorable Commissioner on what to do. That blessing of His Excellency will take several months to get, if it ever comes on matters like this. Finally from the commissioner downwards, a couple of years will be needed before any action is taken.
Now I feel we do not need to wait. I can now understand why my son, Abba, could not get admission into King’s College Lagos. But that is not the issue here. What is at stake is Justice. In the remaining paragraphs, I have presented my contribution as to how the fraud could be avoided and I sincerely hope that the authorities concerned, namely NECO, Federal Ministry of Education, all the Federal Government Colleges and all State Ministries of Education, will take note of them. I have given the full data on the discovery of Malam Mustapha at Queen’s College in the table that appears on this page.
First, let us note that neither the Federal Ministry of Education nor NECO has any fault in this. Objectively, we must dissociate them from any blame. In fact NECO deserves our commendation in that it has computerised the admissions into Federal Government Colleges. That is remarkable, and the computerisation, in spite of its limitations, must remain. It is the surest road to justice.
The situation is brought about by the fraudulent intent and behaviour of parents who know that the computer can never detect, as the human mind would do, any fraud when a parent filling the form for his child decides to fill the wrong state code with the intention of stealing the quota of that state. We understand that stakes are high but parents wishing a better tomorrow for Nigeria should not train their children in corruption at an age as early as ten.
Once the computer is fed with that wrong information, like Ejiegbu Ngozi (Sokoto), Onitiju Afolarera (Kebbi), Fagbuyi Seun (Katsina), Kusuji Folashade (Jigawa), Onuogu Nkechi (Adamawa), Afun Anu Oluwapo (Yobe) and Badejo Omoshalewa (Nasarawa), there is nothing it can do but sort them out as valid indigenes of the respective states indicated. So after both the first and second tests, it will go ahead to award them admissions into schools of their choice based on quota and other criteria like merit and environment. Obviously, NECO will go ahead, especially under pressure to release the results from the public, to issue admission letters as sorted out by the computer. This is the height of transparency. The fault of the computer is that it is not a Nigerian.
NECO can do very little than the computer if we consider that there are hundreds of thousands of candidates applying to sit for the exams. Using the computer also discounts the prejudices of the human factor. Thus, given the quantum of work and the pervasive degree of nepotism among Nigerians, using the computer to collate results and award admissions remains imperative.
Having established the need to use the computer and having also established its inability to detecting fraud of the kind in question, we must move to the manual domain to find a solution to the problem. Fraudulent parents in Lagos and other urban centres will continue to claim states to which they do not belong. They will not stop the practice until and unless they are deterred from it following the following measures.
One, the duty to check the state of origin of the admitted students lies with the schools. When a candidate with the name Onuogu Nkechi arrives at Queen’s College to register, normally she will be required according to the requirements of NECO to present an indigene certificate of a local government in the Jigawa State she claims to come from. The school authority using its sixth sense should automatically notice the near impossibility of Nkechi’s claim such that if she fails to produce the indigene certificate or presents a fake one her admission will be cancelled. However, not all schools I realise have the sixth sense, and those who do may not be interested in using it. That is why all thirteen candidates in the list shown in the table are confirmed sitting tight in the classrooms of Queen’s College, right now.
So we need an additional check point on our road to justice. A second suggestion is that NECO, I will advise, should take the extra pain and cost of sorting out and printing all admissions given to each state nationwide. It will then examine every admission, since the admitted candidates are very much fewer than the candidates that applied. I believe it will be in a position to raise many questions regarding the admissions. For example, it would have found out that half of the fraudulent practice at Queen’s College came from a school called Tinubu Methodist Primary School on Lagos Island . Any surprise, when the His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos state, another Tinubu, narrowly escaped impeachment on allegations of fake certificates some three years ago? NECO can then decide to take punitive measures against such primary schools and, as well, dismiss the candidates involved in the fraud, regardless of their levels in the schools. This is the price for their underrating the intelligence of NECO and miscalculating its sense of prudence. It is the deterrent of future occurrence.
Thirdly, NECO should trek the extra mile to send the printout of the sorted list to every Ministry of Education such that it is left to the state to pursue its case or not whenever it discovers a foul play is committed against it. It will raise the case with NECO and demand a reinstatement of its right. I believe NECO will be very willing to oblige. This option alone would have solved the problem if it were not for the ineptitude of our state Ministries of Education.
The best option lies in the combination of the three: getting schools use their sixth sense, where they have one; NECO scanning the results with the intention to fish out the fraud itself and advise the schools to be on the alert; and NECO, still, sending the printout to states who we implore should take particular and immediate interest in ascertaining the indigeneship of every candidate bearing their names.
I know the Registrar of NECO to be among the few Nigerians in position of authority today who hate fraud to the core, just like his JAMB counterpart. I am sure when this article reaches NECO Registrar, he will, I predict, set up a committee to investigate the matter and he will be the first to order the dismissal of all candidates who have gained admission through this fraudulent manner in the past and present. I hope the composition of this committee will not be limited to NECO officials alone. There is the need for concerned people like Mal. Mustapha Ibrahim to participate in the exercise.
While I invest my hope in the Registrar, I implore on those of us concerned to grant him the time to investigate the matter accordingly. On our part, we assure him of our indomitable defence against the assault ballistics of the parents affected. Mr. Registrar, you remain our only hope, now and in the future.
S/No Candidates Names Exams No. Schools attended State of origin Admission Remarks Scores
73 Ejiegbu A. Ngozi 168738CJ Tinubu Methodist Pry. Lagos Island , Lagos Sokoto Merit 186
147 Mabudu Modinat 154776BB Aunty Ayo Intl. School , Eti-Osa, Lagos Sokoto State Quota 182
146 Osinmade 168723HE Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Sokoto State Quota 184
125 Onitiju Afolarera 168750JA Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Kebbi State Quota 181
123 Fagbuyi Seun 168761FH Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Katsina State Quota 183
102 Kasumu Kemi 168740CD Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Bauchi State Quota 184
40 Kusiji Folashade 168781JE Tinubu Methodist Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Jigawa Merit 188
117 Ayolagbe B. Bisola 168319FC Qatob Day Nursery/Pry. School, Ikeja, Lagos Jigawa State Quota 184
118 Umeco Victory 188806GC Prince Charles Intl. School , Ajeromi/Ifelodun, Lagos Jigawa State Quota 176
243 Onuogu Nkechi 154879JA Air Force Pry. School, Eti-Osa, Lagos Adamawa State Quota 171
96 Tokumba Tutua 340204CC Ebun Oluwa Nursery/Pry. School, Ikeja, Lagos Adamawa State Quota 180
150 Afun Anu Oluwapo 256815CG Emmanuel Pry. School, Kosofe, Lagos Yobe State Quota 179
161 Badejo M. Omoshalewa 168398FF Qatob Day Nursery/Pry. School, Lagos Island , Lagos Nasarawa State Quota 173
Admission of Northern States candidates into Queen’s College – Yaba Lagos (2004/2005 session) based on quota system.
More Private Schools Pls
More Private Schools, Please
aliyutilde@yahoo.com
Last week the Kano State House of Assembly resolved to reduce the number of private schools in the state and direct all government officials to withdraw their children from such schools and enrol them henceforth only in public schools. This is an idea that has been touted in the North by many people who feel deeply concerned about the “death” of education in the region. Their thesis is that reforming the education sector has been made impossible because government officials who are responsible for embarking on the reforms have found an escape route through the backdoor provided by the presence of private schools. They educate their children there and leave those of the masses to continue suffering in neglect.
At the debut of the idea two years ago, I wrote an article using the above title in my former column criticizing the idea, showing that, contrary to the popular sentiment, the nation needs more private schools, of course with their standards set and strictly supervised by statutory authorities. In view of the resolution passed by the assembly in Kano as well as the growing criticisms on the presence of private schools, I am reproducing an abridged version of that article here to convince both the citizenry and policy makers nationwide that private schools are assets, not liability.
The essential question here is how strong is the evidential link, as the logicians would call it, between the proliferation of private schools and the patronage they receive from public servants on the one hand and the failure of government to reform public schools on the other? The link is weak if we consider the factors that led to the collapse of public schools in the country. One is proliferation of public schools and their overpopulation that started with the introduction of Universal Primary Education. The capacity of the system became overstretched, first, in terms of personnel when the program was launched, then in terms of funding when the fortunes of the country started to decline. The second is the squandermania and thievery that flourished under the laissez-faire administrations that started in the mid-eighties and which destroyed every sector of governance in the country.
Therefore the major stumbling block to education reform today is mismanagement. There is too much emphasis on rehabilitation of structures at the expense of provision of teaching materials and development of learning skills. There is also neglect of students and teachers’ welfare, lack of adequate inspection, and so on. These reasons, which we have discussed in detail in previous articles on education, are responsible for the falling standard of education, not the existence of private schools.
On the simple correlation between proliferation of private schools and the falling standard of public schools, the fact is that falling standard of public schools was what caused the proliferation of private schools. Even today, if governments were to restore standard of education in public schools, many private schools will become bereft of customers. This is why public schools like Kano State Science Schools and Bauchi State Special Schools have become hotcakes where public servants and the masses scramble to outwit one another in enrolling their children.
The next question is what moral wrong or legal breach is committed by civil servants who enrol their children in private schools? It is necessary in the first place to divorce any generalization that holds all civil servants as responsible for fallen (not falling, anymore) standard of education. The fact remains that not all public officers, not even all those in ministries of education, can be blamed. They are not to blame for the inaptitude of a leadership that deprived the sector of funds and facilities. What would the officers do before power-drunk administrators that had the least interest of their subjects at heart? What will an officer do when no fund is allocated to him, or whenever it was allocated it was accompanied by senseless directives?
Is being a public servant then enough ground to stop a messenger, for example, or any innocent public officer who did not partake in this mischief, from sending his child to a private school? If we cannot deny the children of such civil servants access to private schools, how then do we justify denying private individuals the right and freedom to educate their children in such schools? In law, the right of government over public servants stops at their official duties. What they do about the welfare of their families is completely out of the domain of any its claim and encroaching into it is infringing of their fundamental human rights.
Let me give this parable by way of summary. Do we need to close private clinics and hospitals or ban public servants and their children from enjoying their services before we can revive the standard of our public hospitals? The child deserves good education regardless of its source, just as he deserves to be treated wherever his cure is anticipated whenever he is sick.
Now, having easily established the rights of citizens to educate their children anywhere, we are tempted to lay the claim that for the North to have a stable and sustained development in education, it needs to encourage the establishment of private schools. There are many reasons for this proposition.
Perhaps the strongest reason is the fact that education is a basic pre-requisite of life today. This makes it necessary for parents to take personal interest and responsibility in educating their children. Leaving education entirely in the hands of government will be catastrophic, given the sum of all the uncertainty, inconsistencies and inefficiency.
Our ancestors realised this and for it education remained private for most part of human history until recently. Even in Europe, it was the growth of capitalism and industry that caused the debut of what experts call formal education through which culture, literacy and technical knowledge is transmitted. The reason why government became involved in establishing schools in Europe was because it was realised that to sustain an economy of an industrialized nation, productive skills of all citizens must be improved through access to formal education where such skills are harmonized and harnessed. In America, where the right of education is not enshrined in the constitution because the constitution preceded the advent of formal education, public funding of education was adopted as a state policy only in the early 19th century and was given a boost in the 1930s in an effort to ‘anglicise’ immigrants whose preponderance was perceived as threatening to the “American Character,” in the account of C. L. Chochran and E. F. Malone.
Here at home, private funding of education is in line with our past. Islamic education, as important as it is, has always been private. People started schools at will, and parents were free to enrol their children in schools of their choice, sometimes in distant places. Children were sacrificed to education even at early age, the root of the almuhajir tradition that has unfortunately transformed into a social quagmire today.
The second reason is that private schools are an alternative to public schools. There might be times when lapses would overtake public schools and their standard fall drastically. Parents have every right to seek for excellence, the best they could find for their children, anytime, anywhere. Public schools, because of their size and bureaucracy, have been reported to be lowest in standard, almost worldwide. The aim is skill acquisition and scholarship that will be used for the common good of the society. If you go to a hospital, do you ask whether the physician is a graduate of private or public school?
The third reason is that as our population increases and we become more enlightened, enrolment increases without any improved efficiency in governance. Public schools eventually become increasingly weaker. The establishment of private schools then becomes necessary not only as options for parents or alternatives in pursuit of excellence as mentioned earlier, but also as a safety valve for easing the pressure build-up. If a parent would agree to sponsor the education of his child, that is commendable as it proves goes a long way to prove his commitment to education in addition to lessening the burden on government; if thousands would do the same, that will bring a lot of relief to government. The resources of government would then be concentrated on educating the less privileged in the society. Here, private schools are a positive contribution that complements the effort of government.
I will be happy to see private schools proliferate in the North as they have done in the South. In just some few years to come, it will be evident that graduates of private schools will be the only ones that will come to the aid of the region, as it is common knowledge that the harvest of public primary and secondary schools has been close to zero for almost a decade now. The South is affected to a lesser extent because its private schools have the capacity to provide almost all its manpower needs. That is the way. The North must in the same way realise that dependence on government has proved disastrous. It must not continue to carry that mistake any further.
A fourth dimension is the suggestion that I also gave long ago that column: government can go into a partnership with private entrepreneurs on education. For example, it can rehabilitate some institutions and lease them out to whoever is ready to effectively use them in return for, say, educating a minimum number of indigenes of the state freely. Many other areas of partnership could be explored.
In conclusion, private schools need not be scapegoats to explain the failure of public ones. There is no way public schools can operate efficiently amidst the ongoing laziness and mismanagement in government. As we have seen in article, private schools are today needed to serve as options for parents in a free society; as alternatives to which parents will resort whenever public schools fail; as complementing bodies that reduce the enormous pressure that is progressively building up in public schools as a result of population growth and other factors; as partners with government in reducing its education load; and finally as competitors in pursuit of excellence together with public schools.
While government tries to improve the standard of its schools through future judicious use of resources and efficient management, there is the need not only to encourage the existing private schools, but also to allow them proliferate in the interest of the nation. The best service that government will render to its citizens here is to ensure that whether a school is private or public, it has to maintain the minimum standard set by the authorities. Otherwise, the society will be better of without it.
I rest my case.
aliyutilde@yahoo.com
Last week the Kano State House of Assembly resolved to reduce the number of private schools in the state and direct all government officials to withdraw their children from such schools and enrol them henceforth only in public schools. This is an idea that has been touted in the North by many people who feel deeply concerned about the “death” of education in the region. Their thesis is that reforming the education sector has been made impossible because government officials who are responsible for embarking on the reforms have found an escape route through the backdoor provided by the presence of private schools. They educate their children there and leave those of the masses to continue suffering in neglect.
At the debut of the idea two years ago, I wrote an article using the above title in my former column criticizing the idea, showing that, contrary to the popular sentiment, the nation needs more private schools, of course with their standards set and strictly supervised by statutory authorities. In view of the resolution passed by the assembly in Kano as well as the growing criticisms on the presence of private schools, I am reproducing an abridged version of that article here to convince both the citizenry and policy makers nationwide that private schools are assets, not liability.
The essential question here is how strong is the evidential link, as the logicians would call it, between the proliferation of private schools and the patronage they receive from public servants on the one hand and the failure of government to reform public schools on the other? The link is weak if we consider the factors that led to the collapse of public schools in the country. One is proliferation of public schools and their overpopulation that started with the introduction of Universal Primary Education. The capacity of the system became overstretched, first, in terms of personnel when the program was launched, then in terms of funding when the fortunes of the country started to decline. The second is the squandermania and thievery that flourished under the laissez-faire administrations that started in the mid-eighties and which destroyed every sector of governance in the country.
Therefore the major stumbling block to education reform today is mismanagement. There is too much emphasis on rehabilitation of structures at the expense of provision of teaching materials and development of learning skills. There is also neglect of students and teachers’ welfare, lack of adequate inspection, and so on. These reasons, which we have discussed in detail in previous articles on education, are responsible for the falling standard of education, not the existence of private schools.
On the simple correlation between proliferation of private schools and the falling standard of public schools, the fact is that falling standard of public schools was what caused the proliferation of private schools. Even today, if governments were to restore standard of education in public schools, many private schools will become bereft of customers. This is why public schools like Kano State Science Schools and Bauchi State Special Schools have become hotcakes where public servants and the masses scramble to outwit one another in enrolling their children.
The next question is what moral wrong or legal breach is committed by civil servants who enrol their children in private schools? It is necessary in the first place to divorce any generalization that holds all civil servants as responsible for fallen (not falling, anymore) standard of education. The fact remains that not all public officers, not even all those in ministries of education, can be blamed. They are not to blame for the inaptitude of a leadership that deprived the sector of funds and facilities. What would the officers do before power-drunk administrators that had the least interest of their subjects at heart? What will an officer do when no fund is allocated to him, or whenever it was allocated it was accompanied by senseless directives?
Is being a public servant then enough ground to stop a messenger, for example, or any innocent public officer who did not partake in this mischief, from sending his child to a private school? If we cannot deny the children of such civil servants access to private schools, how then do we justify denying private individuals the right and freedom to educate their children in such schools? In law, the right of government over public servants stops at their official duties. What they do about the welfare of their families is completely out of the domain of any its claim and encroaching into it is infringing of their fundamental human rights.
Let me give this parable by way of summary. Do we need to close private clinics and hospitals or ban public servants and their children from enjoying their services before we can revive the standard of our public hospitals? The child deserves good education regardless of its source, just as he deserves to be treated wherever his cure is anticipated whenever he is sick.
Now, having easily established the rights of citizens to educate their children anywhere, we are tempted to lay the claim that for the North to have a stable and sustained development in education, it needs to encourage the establishment of private schools. There are many reasons for this proposition.
Perhaps the strongest reason is the fact that education is a basic pre-requisite of life today. This makes it necessary for parents to take personal interest and responsibility in educating their children. Leaving education entirely in the hands of government will be catastrophic, given the sum of all the uncertainty, inconsistencies and inefficiency.
Our ancestors realised this and for it education remained private for most part of human history until recently. Even in Europe, it was the growth of capitalism and industry that caused the debut of what experts call formal education through which culture, literacy and technical knowledge is transmitted. The reason why government became involved in establishing schools in Europe was because it was realised that to sustain an economy of an industrialized nation, productive skills of all citizens must be improved through access to formal education where such skills are harmonized and harnessed. In America, where the right of education is not enshrined in the constitution because the constitution preceded the advent of formal education, public funding of education was adopted as a state policy only in the early 19th century and was given a boost in the 1930s in an effort to ‘anglicise’ immigrants whose preponderance was perceived as threatening to the “American Character,” in the account of C. L. Chochran and E. F. Malone.
Here at home, private funding of education is in line with our past. Islamic education, as important as it is, has always been private. People started schools at will, and parents were free to enrol their children in schools of their choice, sometimes in distant places. Children were sacrificed to education even at early age, the root of the almuhajir tradition that has unfortunately transformed into a social quagmire today.
The second reason is that private schools are an alternative to public schools. There might be times when lapses would overtake public schools and their standard fall drastically. Parents have every right to seek for excellence, the best they could find for their children, anytime, anywhere. Public schools, because of their size and bureaucracy, have been reported to be lowest in standard, almost worldwide. The aim is skill acquisition and scholarship that will be used for the common good of the society. If you go to a hospital, do you ask whether the physician is a graduate of private or public school?
The third reason is that as our population increases and we become more enlightened, enrolment increases without any improved efficiency in governance. Public schools eventually become increasingly weaker. The establishment of private schools then becomes necessary not only as options for parents or alternatives in pursuit of excellence as mentioned earlier, but also as a safety valve for easing the pressure build-up. If a parent would agree to sponsor the education of his child, that is commendable as it proves goes a long way to prove his commitment to education in addition to lessening the burden on government; if thousands would do the same, that will bring a lot of relief to government. The resources of government would then be concentrated on educating the less privileged in the society. Here, private schools are a positive contribution that complements the effort of government.
I will be happy to see private schools proliferate in the North as they have done in the South. In just some few years to come, it will be evident that graduates of private schools will be the only ones that will come to the aid of the region, as it is common knowledge that the harvest of public primary and secondary schools has been close to zero for almost a decade now. The South is affected to a lesser extent because its private schools have the capacity to provide almost all its manpower needs. That is the way. The North must in the same way realise that dependence on government has proved disastrous. It must not continue to carry that mistake any further.
A fourth dimension is the suggestion that I also gave long ago that column: government can go into a partnership with private entrepreneurs on education. For example, it can rehabilitate some institutions and lease them out to whoever is ready to effectively use them in return for, say, educating a minimum number of indigenes of the state freely. Many other areas of partnership could be explored.
In conclusion, private schools need not be scapegoats to explain the failure of public ones. There is no way public schools can operate efficiently amidst the ongoing laziness and mismanagement in government. As we have seen in article, private schools are today needed to serve as options for parents in a free society; as alternatives to which parents will resort whenever public schools fail; as complementing bodies that reduce the enormous pressure that is progressively building up in public schools as a result of population growth and other factors; as partners with government in reducing its education load; and finally as competitors in pursuit of excellence together with public schools.
While government tries to improve the standard of its schools through future judicious use of resources and efficient management, there is the need not only to encourage the existing private schools, but also to allow them proliferate in the interest of the nation. The best service that government will render to its citizens here is to ensure that whether a school is private or public, it has to maintain the minimum standard set by the authorities. Otherwise, the society will be better of without it.
I rest my case.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Parents and Education in Northern Nigeria
Parents and Education in the North
My attention was once again drawn to education recently when I was on a visit in a government office. An elderly person, a Baba, made a remark that appeared serious to me. He said that if the present trend in decline in standard of education is not stopped, forty years from now no educated person will be found in the North. You may think that this is too remote to be true. But give it a second thought, you would find that his argument, as far as the limits of its premise is concerned, does carry some element of validity.
I have pondered over his observation, thinking what must be done to stop the catastrophe. As a northerner that enjoyed free education all through, I simply emptied the dustbin at the doorstep of Mr. Government. Readers will remember that this was the view I earlier expressed in a series titled Re-educating the North. Having lost hope that Mr. Government will do anything substantially positive, I later presented another angle in an article titled Islam and Education where I urged communities to take over the challenge since we cannot afford to wait for Mr. Government to become responsible once more.
However, coincidentally, in the months that followed the publication, education was given attention by northern governments and interested groups. Whether their effort will yield beta, na time wey sabi tell o. This not withstanding, the perspective of communities must not be overlooked. Nothing stops parents sharing a street or even a single large family from organizing their children to share a blackboard in a zaure or a garage.
Negligence
My recent involvement in education and especially the ponder that resulted from our discussion with the Baba introduced a totally new perspective, that of the individual. I now think education has failed in the North because we have failed to accord it the value it deserves. Those of us that were opportune to acquire it have failed to regard it as an asset deserving to be passed to following generations at all cost.
Take wealth for instance. Many people, once beyond forty, toil for wealth simply in order to leave it behind for their children. Many will go as far as stealing from the public treasury to secure the future of their progeny. Wealth is therefore considered valuable enough to be passed as a legacy to following generations. It is sad that education does not enjoy this status in our mind. Otherwise, how do we explain an educated father that has dozens of children, yet, none of them could reasonably read or write? Does not he feel that having enjoyed the benefits of education, even in the absence of government, he can grant his child the same by dedicating a fraction of his wealth or a portion of his time?
If all the hundreds of thousands of parent that enjoyed western education in the North up to the late seventies have taken scholarship seriously they would have turned over millions of others on their own, even as the performance of government in the sector was collapsing. Consider an average father of six to ten children. If he had educated his children, at the time of his death he would have left six to ten other scholars in the society. Where you have thousands of such parents, millions of students will be produced. The south is exemplary in this respect.
Hindrances
The question here is, what hinders us from looking at education from this angle of primary responsibility of the person and not government or community? The first is the cultural conflict that greeted its debut, as I indicated in my earlier articles. However, if this would serve as an excuse for our parents and grandparents, it cannot be held valid for us who had the opportunity to live with it and taste its fruits for decades. So let’s drop this.
The second reason could be poverty. The average educated northerner is still a civil servant that survives on a salary that looks miserable in the face of a devaluated currency. The paramount responsibility for him therefore is to provide for the physiological need of his family. Unfortunately for education, it is intellectual, a luxury expected to be provided for by Mr. Government. And when it fails, it is its own lookout. Parents that start their families on this wrong philosophy of home management soon find out that after the first twenty years they are faced with a swarm of idle youth that, though fully grown and graced with physical strength, cannot fend for themselves because they are weak in mind and skill. They remain a liability for life. The parents too do not help matters. They continue to bring in more mouths on both the vertical and horizontal planes of the dinner table.
In this way, a family that once appeared promising at its onset gets locked up in a vicious circle of poverty, with education increasingly pushed to the periphery until it is muscled away completely. Thus the single educated father that could have yielded twenty others, were he a southerner, would carry his educational experience along to his grave.
Negligence
I find this poverty theory to be only partially correct. One may wish to know whether southerners, who insist on educating their children at all cost, are not suffering from the same economic deprivation.
Again, if we look at the environment in most northern states, the funding that will appear overwhelming to parents is that which obtains at the secondary school level. There, the child is expected to buy expensive textbooks and other learning materials in addition to uniforms and maintenance allowance if he is attending boarding. But even this has been circumvented with the presence of day secondary schools. A probe at what happens in these secondary schools will put a substantial part of the blame back to parents.
Standard of secondary school education has fallen because of the poor product they receive from the primary school. Students in our public primary schools today are not learning anything. Here also a number of factors are responsible. They include lack of adequate teacher training, over congestion of the schools, truancy, lack of teaching materials, books, poor language, etc. But in relation to our topic on the role of parents in education, the shortcomings in the primary school can be circumvented with extra lessons at home, administered either by parents themselves or hired teachers. I cannot imagine a teacher or civil servant that has a child that has reached JSS III but who is unable to read alphabets correctly. What has the father been doing all this time?
The primary school level is the most crucial in education, especially its first three years. It is here where the child is taught the art of reading, writing, arithmetic and language. Without this he has no future in education. Fortunately, the substantial part of this requirement can be achieved at home, in addition to the little that is taught in school. This has nothing to do with poverty but has everything to do with our shrinking worldview.
I am confident that once every educated parent is ready to take up the challenge and teach his child at home a lot can be achieved. The graduate teachers in the secondary schools can have the students qualified to understand their grammar. With this effort, an educated father will certainly be proud to leave behind, at the time of his death, a tradition of learning that he has founded on hard work. Poverty will, God willing, shift from his house, look for accommodation elsewhere.
Family size
In addition, we need to look at other areas. We need to balance the size of our families with our resources. Otherwise, from what we see in practice, people soon become overwhelmed before their first child gains ‘freedom’. I do not mind much about growth on the horizontal axis that involves increase in children from the same mother. It has a distribution that is naturally spaced.
The trouble is with the vertical axis. The poor civil servant who cannot afford a decent meal for his family or good education for his child will be the first to marry another wife whenever small opening presents itself, thus increasing the magnitude of the vertical axis. I am of the opinion that, given our new political economy that is heavily based on skills that are acquired through formal learning, polygamy should strictly be entered into only at auspicious times. If done in tight economic situations, the future of our children will be jeopardized.
Time
I have heard people complaining that their time is limited. Parents would therefore argue that they couldn’t afford an hour to teach their children. Such statements disappoint me. Is not 24 hrs enough time in a day? Well, a businessman could be busy but he must make his business pay for a tutor at home. For the civil servant that cannot claim to be busy earning money, what does he use his 16 hrs for, if he uses only 8 hrs in the office? Of the 16 remaining hours, hardly can he use more than 8 hrs sleeping. What happens to the remaining 8 hrs? Roaming about the town gossiping or watching TV? I am sure that with a slight adjustment, we will be able to give our children at least an hour in a day. They deserve it. If we are not blessed with wealth we should console ourselves that we are blessed with time and health. And our children should be the first beneficiaries of that blessing.
Mothers
Now, let us task our sisters with a responsibility. The effort to educate children at home must not be limited to the father. Quite a lot will be achieved if our sisters at home will give a helping hand. Many of them are educated, at least enough to teach their children the three ‘r’s. Unfortunately, many of them are hardly interested in doing so. Nevertheless, they should be encouraged to gradually cultivate the practice. Those of them that have tried it know very well that the potential for achievement here is great.
Language
Finally, an area where parents will improve on the educational performance of their children in the North is in the area of language. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the way you look at it, we have a very conquering language, Hausa. Even the educated among us find it difficult to take a leave from it and speak at length in English, unless under obligation. If Hausa would be a bit less monopolizing and allow some amount of English to creep into our homes and slip into our conversations, our children at school would stand a better chance of understanding their school teachers and textbooks.
Conclusion
While not belittling the efforts of government and the community, this essay has tried to explore areas for improving the performance of our children in schools, transferring part of the garbage of failure from the doorstep of Mr. Government to our own. It has shown how with determination of both parents and through simple efforts like the creation of time to teach our children at home of controlled size and slipping in one or two words of English in our conversation with them, the fear expressed by Baba that in forty years no educated northerner will be found will soon become history. Lets cease to be selfish.
My attention was once again drawn to education recently when I was on a visit in a government office. An elderly person, a Baba, made a remark that appeared serious to me. He said that if the present trend in decline in standard of education is not stopped, forty years from now no educated person will be found in the North. You may think that this is too remote to be true. But give it a second thought, you would find that his argument, as far as the limits of its premise is concerned, does carry some element of validity.
I have pondered over his observation, thinking what must be done to stop the catastrophe. As a northerner that enjoyed free education all through, I simply emptied the dustbin at the doorstep of Mr. Government. Readers will remember that this was the view I earlier expressed in a series titled Re-educating the North. Having lost hope that Mr. Government will do anything substantially positive, I later presented another angle in an article titled Islam and Education where I urged communities to take over the challenge since we cannot afford to wait for Mr. Government to become responsible once more.
However, coincidentally, in the months that followed the publication, education was given attention by northern governments and interested groups. Whether their effort will yield beta, na time wey sabi tell o. This not withstanding, the perspective of communities must not be overlooked. Nothing stops parents sharing a street or even a single large family from organizing their children to share a blackboard in a zaure or a garage.
Negligence
My recent involvement in education and especially the ponder that resulted from our discussion with the Baba introduced a totally new perspective, that of the individual. I now think education has failed in the North because we have failed to accord it the value it deserves. Those of us that were opportune to acquire it have failed to regard it as an asset deserving to be passed to following generations at all cost.
Take wealth for instance. Many people, once beyond forty, toil for wealth simply in order to leave it behind for their children. Many will go as far as stealing from the public treasury to secure the future of their progeny. Wealth is therefore considered valuable enough to be passed as a legacy to following generations. It is sad that education does not enjoy this status in our mind. Otherwise, how do we explain an educated father that has dozens of children, yet, none of them could reasonably read or write? Does not he feel that having enjoyed the benefits of education, even in the absence of government, he can grant his child the same by dedicating a fraction of his wealth or a portion of his time?
If all the hundreds of thousands of parent that enjoyed western education in the North up to the late seventies have taken scholarship seriously they would have turned over millions of others on their own, even as the performance of government in the sector was collapsing. Consider an average father of six to ten children. If he had educated his children, at the time of his death he would have left six to ten other scholars in the society. Where you have thousands of such parents, millions of students will be produced. The south is exemplary in this respect.
Hindrances
The question here is, what hinders us from looking at education from this angle of primary responsibility of the person and not government or community? The first is the cultural conflict that greeted its debut, as I indicated in my earlier articles. However, if this would serve as an excuse for our parents and grandparents, it cannot be held valid for us who had the opportunity to live with it and taste its fruits for decades. So let’s drop this.
The second reason could be poverty. The average educated northerner is still a civil servant that survives on a salary that looks miserable in the face of a devaluated currency. The paramount responsibility for him therefore is to provide for the physiological need of his family. Unfortunately for education, it is intellectual, a luxury expected to be provided for by Mr. Government. And when it fails, it is its own lookout. Parents that start their families on this wrong philosophy of home management soon find out that after the first twenty years they are faced with a swarm of idle youth that, though fully grown and graced with physical strength, cannot fend for themselves because they are weak in mind and skill. They remain a liability for life. The parents too do not help matters. They continue to bring in more mouths on both the vertical and horizontal planes of the dinner table.
In this way, a family that once appeared promising at its onset gets locked up in a vicious circle of poverty, with education increasingly pushed to the periphery until it is muscled away completely. Thus the single educated father that could have yielded twenty others, were he a southerner, would carry his educational experience along to his grave.
Negligence
I find this poverty theory to be only partially correct. One may wish to know whether southerners, who insist on educating their children at all cost, are not suffering from the same economic deprivation.
Again, if we look at the environment in most northern states, the funding that will appear overwhelming to parents is that which obtains at the secondary school level. There, the child is expected to buy expensive textbooks and other learning materials in addition to uniforms and maintenance allowance if he is attending boarding. But even this has been circumvented with the presence of day secondary schools. A probe at what happens in these secondary schools will put a substantial part of the blame back to parents.
Standard of secondary school education has fallen because of the poor product they receive from the primary school. Students in our public primary schools today are not learning anything. Here also a number of factors are responsible. They include lack of adequate teacher training, over congestion of the schools, truancy, lack of teaching materials, books, poor language, etc. But in relation to our topic on the role of parents in education, the shortcomings in the primary school can be circumvented with extra lessons at home, administered either by parents themselves or hired teachers. I cannot imagine a teacher or civil servant that has a child that has reached JSS III but who is unable to read alphabets correctly. What has the father been doing all this time?
The primary school level is the most crucial in education, especially its first three years. It is here where the child is taught the art of reading, writing, arithmetic and language. Without this he has no future in education. Fortunately, the substantial part of this requirement can be achieved at home, in addition to the little that is taught in school. This has nothing to do with poverty but has everything to do with our shrinking worldview.
I am confident that once every educated parent is ready to take up the challenge and teach his child at home a lot can be achieved. The graduate teachers in the secondary schools can have the students qualified to understand their grammar. With this effort, an educated father will certainly be proud to leave behind, at the time of his death, a tradition of learning that he has founded on hard work. Poverty will, God willing, shift from his house, look for accommodation elsewhere.
Family size
In addition, we need to look at other areas. We need to balance the size of our families with our resources. Otherwise, from what we see in practice, people soon become overwhelmed before their first child gains ‘freedom’. I do not mind much about growth on the horizontal axis that involves increase in children from the same mother. It has a distribution that is naturally spaced.
The trouble is with the vertical axis. The poor civil servant who cannot afford a decent meal for his family or good education for his child will be the first to marry another wife whenever small opening presents itself, thus increasing the magnitude of the vertical axis. I am of the opinion that, given our new political economy that is heavily based on skills that are acquired through formal learning, polygamy should strictly be entered into only at auspicious times. If done in tight economic situations, the future of our children will be jeopardized.
Time
I have heard people complaining that their time is limited. Parents would therefore argue that they couldn’t afford an hour to teach their children. Such statements disappoint me. Is not 24 hrs enough time in a day? Well, a businessman could be busy but he must make his business pay for a tutor at home. For the civil servant that cannot claim to be busy earning money, what does he use his 16 hrs for, if he uses only 8 hrs in the office? Of the 16 remaining hours, hardly can he use more than 8 hrs sleeping. What happens to the remaining 8 hrs? Roaming about the town gossiping or watching TV? I am sure that with a slight adjustment, we will be able to give our children at least an hour in a day. They deserve it. If we are not blessed with wealth we should console ourselves that we are blessed with time and health. And our children should be the first beneficiaries of that blessing.
Mothers
Now, let us task our sisters with a responsibility. The effort to educate children at home must not be limited to the father. Quite a lot will be achieved if our sisters at home will give a helping hand. Many of them are educated, at least enough to teach their children the three ‘r’s. Unfortunately, many of them are hardly interested in doing so. Nevertheless, they should be encouraged to gradually cultivate the practice. Those of them that have tried it know very well that the potential for achievement here is great.
Language
Finally, an area where parents will improve on the educational performance of their children in the North is in the area of language. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the way you look at it, we have a very conquering language, Hausa. Even the educated among us find it difficult to take a leave from it and speak at length in English, unless under obligation. If Hausa would be a bit less monopolizing and allow some amount of English to creep into our homes and slip into our conversations, our children at school would stand a better chance of understanding their school teachers and textbooks.
Conclusion
While not belittling the efforts of government and the community, this essay has tried to explore areas for improving the performance of our children in schools, transferring part of the garbage of failure from the doorstep of Mr. Government to our own. It has shown how with determination of both parents and through simple efforts like the creation of time to teach our children at home of controlled size and slipping in one or two words of English in our conversation with them, the fear expressed by Baba that in forty years no educated northerner will be found will soon become history. Lets cease to be selfish.
The Undesirable Divide
The Undesirable Divide
I contemplated writing this article after paying a visit last Wednesday to Sakuwa, a village in Zaki Local Government Area of Bauchi State. What I saw there is the subject matter of our discourse today.
It all started with a trip to Government College Azare, one of the schools under the Special Schools project initiated by the Muazu administration. (I volunteered to head the Taskforce under the Governor’s office that is charged with setting up the schools) I have not visited the school since I closed it down last year after finding that the admission regulations that we outlined were violated. After going back to the drawing board and feeding the school with the qualified candidates, I decided to visit it to brief members of staff with our provisions on teaching and running of the institution generally.
A secondary objective was to visit Sakuwa village to see whether I can source students eligible for admission into GC Azare. Pupils from the village, as our team of examiners told me, have missed the selection test. I was bent on closing admissions that Wednesday and concentrating henceforth on teaching in the schools. But I know I will be left with the feeling of guilt if Sakuwa is not examined. There could be a qualified child waiting for a chance; his father may be anxious and interested in his education; and there I was, carrying the golden opportunity they needed. The state government has set up the three schools specifically for such students and parents. It has rehabilitated their infrastructure and provided all facilities required by teachers and students. Everything there is free – books, meals, uniforms, soap, transport money, etc. All that is required is for the indigene of the state to prove his worth academically and the sky becomes his limit.
While at a lunch, I inquired about Sakuwa to see if I can squeeze time to carry out the selection. I was told it was about 40 – 50 km away. I felt I could make it. We left Azare with a friend who I picked in the town, heading toward Zaki in a hurry. The teachers back at GC Azare might disperse. But I did not allow that to bother me. The PTF road before me was already seducing me to drive faster, just as did the CIVIC I was riding. I like being seduced and at 160km/hr (!), it took only few minutes to reach my destination.
We drove into the school that was full of trees and fairly good buildings. As we reached the two blocks directly facing the entrance, we were greeted by the emptiness of the premises. We looked around for signs of life. Only a block showed some. There were two teachers – a youth corper and one other – in two classes conducting lessons for the children.
The youth corper came out and greeted us. The principal was away to Bauchi. While I could understand the enthusiasm of the corper, I was surprised at the dedication of the other teacher. He could have as well been absent. Perhaps he is the only teacher apart from the Principal. From my experience, I have learnt not to ask questions. I was not there on inspection. I was only there to see if there is a child who deserves to benefit from this exceptional opportunity.
So without asking much questions, I stepped into the first class. It was a JSS 1 class, with about twenty-five children of relatively uniform age. The lesson was English. I went round asking each child to read whatever word or sentence I pointed at in his exercise book. Clearly, majority of the children did not understand what they were writing. Neither could they read it. I focussed on two of them that made a good attempt. I told one of them, Hasan Abbas, “Za ka tafi GC Azare, ka ci gaba da makaranta. Kar ka ki …”
I thanked the teacher and proceeded to the other class. It was JSS 3, according to the students. The youth corper was teaching them Integrated Science. I greeted them and asked whether any of them could make three sentences with the word “book”. The class was quiet. Those that attempted formed sentences that are ridiculous to print. Then I asked who takes the first position in the class. They pointed at a shy boy at a corner. I approached him and requested that he should make an attempt. He managed to say, “You are a book.” I cheered him saying, “Correct”. Another boy was anxious to answer. I gave him the chance. He made two good sentences, saying, “This is a book” and “The book is on the table.”
I looked at the remaining pupils. None could say anything meaningful. I felt terribly bad. I took a deep sigh, shook my head and could not resist saying, “An ci amana. Allah ya isa (Trust has not been kept. God is sufficient for us).” I was referring to past administrations that looted the resources of the state and allowed this sector to deteriorate so much. They have left us with a burden. What can you achieve with a system of education whose ninth grade child cannot make a sentence with the word “book”? There were students, few though, but ready to learn. There were buildings to house them and even some two teachers to teach. But the foundation was simply not there. They are completely off the track and they may never achieve their goal.
I told the two students, Usman Hadi and Haruna Adamu, that they would leave with me to Azare. I advised them that they should not bother into which class I place them. I knew they would not be in JSS 3. They will definitely attend a remedial JSS 1 class that they will share with students from other educationally disadvantaged local governments in the state. There they will undergo an intensive course in English and Mathematics only, a revision of whatever they have missed at the primary level. The following year they will proceed to JSS 2. By the time they go to JSS 3 reasonably conversant with the language necessary for the understanding of other subjects. They agreed.
While still in the class, I fought hard to withhold my tears. I pitied the remaining students. We are leaving them behind in this dry place with a corper teaching them a subject beyond their comprehension. Their fate and that of Usman and Haruna have separated almost forever. This is cruel.
We drove out of the school into the village to intimate their parents about the development. To my surprise, there were many of school age children in the village. I could not remember seeing a single girl in the school. In the village however, there were many. It appears that their parents have realized that the education sector is already made impotent. I agree with them.
I was however surprised at the warm reception I got from the parents. They were happy and appreciative of the concern and pain taken to sort out their children. They said it was God’s design. The grandfather of Usman Hadi, a scholarly looking septuagenarian, showered me with blessings as I drove away with his child, heading back to Azare.
Throughout the return journey, with my eyes focussed on the road, my mind remained fixed with the children in the school at Sakuwa. I wished that Hasan, Usman and Haruna had shared the opportunity of good education and the prospect for a better future together with their mates, there in Sakuwa, not in Azare. I wished all schools were “special,” getting the attention they deserve.
It is not my intention to blame anyone. However, my right to ask questions, as a citizen, must not be denied. How did things deteriorated to so bad a level in Northern Nigeria? Would it have been so, had previous governments paid the necessary attention to the sector? When we say government, whom do we actually mean? It involves, in my opinion, everybody in the sector: the governors and commissioners of education in the various states in the past 16 years; the officials in the Ministries of Education and their Zonal Education offices; the principals and their teachers; before any mention is made of parents and their children.
In fact parents and students are mentioned only as a scapegoat. For example, I have already concluded that the widespread belief that parents in Katagum Zone are not interested in sending their wards to school is a misconception, if not a lie. This lie is tall enough to reach the moon. If it were so, I could not have read the interest and enthusiasm in Usman’s grandfather. I would not have earned his blessings. The bitter fact is that officials there have received little attention. They remain so, given the fact that they live very far away from the centre at Bauchi, which is incapable of supervising them due to logistics and other reasons.
Successive governments in the North have been paying a lip service to education. Officials of such governments have forgotten that it was education that saved them from the harsh conditions of living in rural areas. It urbanized them. But instead of becoming refined, they have turned the sector into a goldmine. They looted its resources. Vouchers for non-existent jobs were paid; books meant for children were sold to booksellers; ghost teachers filled the payroll; and the money meant for direct feeding was shared between officials. Gradually, schools that were envied by other states started to become ghost sites with dwindling enrolment. Sometimes, principals connive to sell out equipment and fittings including doors, windows and even roofs of their schools. At the end they got away with it because we are living in a society where the leadership does not believe in punishment. Those in the sector know what I am talking about. Where is our conscience?
I would not like to generalize. I know there are many education officials constrained in performing their duties by bad governance of their superiors and lack of resources. But we must be bold enough to point out that many have over the years turned into bad eggs. They aided every military administrator since 1985 that came on a looting jamboree. They disregarded rules and procedures meant to ensure standards of schools. Many ministry officials, principals and school staff gave admissions recklessly, and they continue to do so, all year round, until when it became impossible for government to maintain classroom size or feed boarding students adequately. Parents avoided sending their children to boarding schools in distant areas. As a result, there are still day schools with a population of between 4,000 and 7,000. A classroom size of 250 is not uncommon!
The situation requires a revolution. It is dangerous to allow it to continue. Unless we do something urgently, those among us that will live for the next thirty years will be faced with serious social crisis that will be beyond their control. This injustice will not last long. If it does, the end will be disastrous.
The situation is very saddening for the observer, harsh for students and frustrating to parents. To put things back on the right track, governments in the North must be willing to take whatever measures are necessary. They must go the whole hog. The measures will definitely be harsher than the situation itself. They will involve a serious reorientation of education administrators and expending a huge sum on education, again. However, before it does that, if there is anything like a state of educational emergency, it needs to be declared now. The Houses of Assembly are willing to support the executives in each state in passing any bill that will facilitate the revival of education.
So let the government map out strategies that will ensure that the quality control measures earlier practiced, and possibly new ones, if desirable are adhered to. This is not possible until the executive arm empowers the civil servants saddled with the implementation of these policies. I have realized that most time their hands are tied by orders from above. They operate under conditions of fear, so much so that they cannot punish their subordinates. All facilities they need should also be provided.
With this in place, the chance is given for those of them willing to work for the revitalization of the system to do so. Attention will then turn on the few bad eggs that will not be difficult to fish out. Let the punishment for their corruption and negligence of duty be made severe. Let everybody, no matter his grade level, sit up and do what is assigned to him. If he is reluctant, he should be retired immediately and made to give the chance to others. There are many young ones bubbling with the energy required for a change.
Let teachers be given all the encouragement they need to teach our children. With good wages and welfare, most of them will be willing to serve diligently. They need to be supervised and their schools inspected regularly. Already many of them are performing commendably even under the present constraints. Once such measures are met and any of them is found wanting, he should also be made to relinquish his job outrightly. From my brief contact with them, I believe that majority of the teachers like their job.
Let government embark on massive purchase of school materials, improve on feeding and rehabilitate structures at minimum cost. At the end of it, measures must be taken to ensure the safety of the items purchased and of the funds released. Otherwise they will go down the same drain, as did those before them.
Do we have any hope? Aaah, no … and … yes! We are in a political era. Politicians are often associated with complacency and the desire not to hurt anyone. They would rather concentrate on projects that will earn them praise quickly without risking blame from anybody, even for a day. Here, Governor Muazu has pledged to make a difference. As the first half of his first term (we pray for a second one) come to an end, the question is would he be strong enough to risk being a politician with a difference? People in the state are grateful for the special schools gesture. Children admitted in them are happy, very happy in fact. But it should only be the beginning. There are 78 (!) other schools to be attended to. Would His Excellency, for the sake of providence and for the sake of God, extend the opportunity for better education to other children by coming out with a policy that will sanitize the remaining schools? We know, in doing so, his opponents that would like to see the sector, important as it is, remain idle would become frustrated. He will also definitely collide with the beneficiaries of the present state of decay. Would he bulldoze his way on, as is his habit usually, even if the two camps boast of threatening his re-election?
If the answer is in the affirmative, I will look forward to the day I will return to Sakuwa and meet the mates of Hasan, Usman and Haruna busy learning in a decent school environment. Their sisters, together with them, will also be there, eager to acquire the true weapon of liberation.
If the answer is negative, last Wednesday will forever remain as a final divide between the fate of the selected three and that of their mates whom they left behind. The three will mount the ladder of becoming elite, enjoying all the benefits of civilization. The rest will sink in poverty disease, ignorance and disappointment. It is the undesirable divide that can be avoided, right now.
I contemplated writing this article after paying a visit last Wednesday to Sakuwa, a village in Zaki Local Government Area of Bauchi State. What I saw there is the subject matter of our discourse today.
It all started with a trip to Government College Azare, one of the schools under the Special Schools project initiated by the Muazu administration. (I volunteered to head the Taskforce under the Governor’s office that is charged with setting up the schools) I have not visited the school since I closed it down last year after finding that the admission regulations that we outlined were violated. After going back to the drawing board and feeding the school with the qualified candidates, I decided to visit it to brief members of staff with our provisions on teaching and running of the institution generally.
A secondary objective was to visit Sakuwa village to see whether I can source students eligible for admission into GC Azare. Pupils from the village, as our team of examiners told me, have missed the selection test. I was bent on closing admissions that Wednesday and concentrating henceforth on teaching in the schools. But I know I will be left with the feeling of guilt if Sakuwa is not examined. There could be a qualified child waiting for a chance; his father may be anxious and interested in his education; and there I was, carrying the golden opportunity they needed. The state government has set up the three schools specifically for such students and parents. It has rehabilitated their infrastructure and provided all facilities required by teachers and students. Everything there is free – books, meals, uniforms, soap, transport money, etc. All that is required is for the indigene of the state to prove his worth academically and the sky becomes his limit.
While at a lunch, I inquired about Sakuwa to see if I can squeeze time to carry out the selection. I was told it was about 40 – 50 km away. I felt I could make it. We left Azare with a friend who I picked in the town, heading toward Zaki in a hurry. The teachers back at GC Azare might disperse. But I did not allow that to bother me. The PTF road before me was already seducing me to drive faster, just as did the CIVIC I was riding. I like being seduced and at 160km/hr (!), it took only few minutes to reach my destination.
We drove into the school that was full of trees and fairly good buildings. As we reached the two blocks directly facing the entrance, we were greeted by the emptiness of the premises. We looked around for signs of life. Only a block showed some. There were two teachers – a youth corper and one other – in two classes conducting lessons for the children.
The youth corper came out and greeted us. The principal was away to Bauchi. While I could understand the enthusiasm of the corper, I was surprised at the dedication of the other teacher. He could have as well been absent. Perhaps he is the only teacher apart from the Principal. From my experience, I have learnt not to ask questions. I was not there on inspection. I was only there to see if there is a child who deserves to benefit from this exceptional opportunity.
So without asking much questions, I stepped into the first class. It was a JSS 1 class, with about twenty-five children of relatively uniform age. The lesson was English. I went round asking each child to read whatever word or sentence I pointed at in his exercise book. Clearly, majority of the children did not understand what they were writing. Neither could they read it. I focussed on two of them that made a good attempt. I told one of them, Hasan Abbas, “Za ka tafi GC Azare, ka ci gaba da makaranta. Kar ka ki …”
I thanked the teacher and proceeded to the other class. It was JSS 3, according to the students. The youth corper was teaching them Integrated Science. I greeted them and asked whether any of them could make three sentences with the word “book”. The class was quiet. Those that attempted formed sentences that are ridiculous to print. Then I asked who takes the first position in the class. They pointed at a shy boy at a corner. I approached him and requested that he should make an attempt. He managed to say, “You are a book.” I cheered him saying, “Correct”. Another boy was anxious to answer. I gave him the chance. He made two good sentences, saying, “This is a book” and “The book is on the table.”
I looked at the remaining pupils. None could say anything meaningful. I felt terribly bad. I took a deep sigh, shook my head and could not resist saying, “An ci amana. Allah ya isa (Trust has not been kept. God is sufficient for us).” I was referring to past administrations that looted the resources of the state and allowed this sector to deteriorate so much. They have left us with a burden. What can you achieve with a system of education whose ninth grade child cannot make a sentence with the word “book”? There were students, few though, but ready to learn. There were buildings to house them and even some two teachers to teach. But the foundation was simply not there. They are completely off the track and they may never achieve their goal.
I told the two students, Usman Hadi and Haruna Adamu, that they would leave with me to Azare. I advised them that they should not bother into which class I place them. I knew they would not be in JSS 3. They will definitely attend a remedial JSS 1 class that they will share with students from other educationally disadvantaged local governments in the state. There they will undergo an intensive course in English and Mathematics only, a revision of whatever they have missed at the primary level. The following year they will proceed to JSS 2. By the time they go to JSS 3 reasonably conversant with the language necessary for the understanding of other subjects. They agreed.
While still in the class, I fought hard to withhold my tears. I pitied the remaining students. We are leaving them behind in this dry place with a corper teaching them a subject beyond their comprehension. Their fate and that of Usman and Haruna have separated almost forever. This is cruel.
We drove out of the school into the village to intimate their parents about the development. To my surprise, there were many of school age children in the village. I could not remember seeing a single girl in the school. In the village however, there were many. It appears that their parents have realized that the education sector is already made impotent. I agree with them.
I was however surprised at the warm reception I got from the parents. They were happy and appreciative of the concern and pain taken to sort out their children. They said it was God’s design. The grandfather of Usman Hadi, a scholarly looking septuagenarian, showered me with blessings as I drove away with his child, heading back to Azare.
Throughout the return journey, with my eyes focussed on the road, my mind remained fixed with the children in the school at Sakuwa. I wished that Hasan, Usman and Haruna had shared the opportunity of good education and the prospect for a better future together with their mates, there in Sakuwa, not in Azare. I wished all schools were “special,” getting the attention they deserve.
It is not my intention to blame anyone. However, my right to ask questions, as a citizen, must not be denied. How did things deteriorated to so bad a level in Northern Nigeria? Would it have been so, had previous governments paid the necessary attention to the sector? When we say government, whom do we actually mean? It involves, in my opinion, everybody in the sector: the governors and commissioners of education in the various states in the past 16 years; the officials in the Ministries of Education and their Zonal Education offices; the principals and their teachers; before any mention is made of parents and their children.
In fact parents and students are mentioned only as a scapegoat. For example, I have already concluded that the widespread belief that parents in Katagum Zone are not interested in sending their wards to school is a misconception, if not a lie. This lie is tall enough to reach the moon. If it were so, I could not have read the interest and enthusiasm in Usman’s grandfather. I would not have earned his blessings. The bitter fact is that officials there have received little attention. They remain so, given the fact that they live very far away from the centre at Bauchi, which is incapable of supervising them due to logistics and other reasons.
Successive governments in the North have been paying a lip service to education. Officials of such governments have forgotten that it was education that saved them from the harsh conditions of living in rural areas. It urbanized them. But instead of becoming refined, they have turned the sector into a goldmine. They looted its resources. Vouchers for non-existent jobs were paid; books meant for children were sold to booksellers; ghost teachers filled the payroll; and the money meant for direct feeding was shared between officials. Gradually, schools that were envied by other states started to become ghost sites with dwindling enrolment. Sometimes, principals connive to sell out equipment and fittings including doors, windows and even roofs of their schools. At the end they got away with it because we are living in a society where the leadership does not believe in punishment. Those in the sector know what I am talking about. Where is our conscience?
I would not like to generalize. I know there are many education officials constrained in performing their duties by bad governance of their superiors and lack of resources. But we must be bold enough to point out that many have over the years turned into bad eggs. They aided every military administrator since 1985 that came on a looting jamboree. They disregarded rules and procedures meant to ensure standards of schools. Many ministry officials, principals and school staff gave admissions recklessly, and they continue to do so, all year round, until when it became impossible for government to maintain classroom size or feed boarding students adequately. Parents avoided sending their children to boarding schools in distant areas. As a result, there are still day schools with a population of between 4,000 and 7,000. A classroom size of 250 is not uncommon!
The situation requires a revolution. It is dangerous to allow it to continue. Unless we do something urgently, those among us that will live for the next thirty years will be faced with serious social crisis that will be beyond their control. This injustice will not last long. If it does, the end will be disastrous.
The situation is very saddening for the observer, harsh for students and frustrating to parents. To put things back on the right track, governments in the North must be willing to take whatever measures are necessary. They must go the whole hog. The measures will definitely be harsher than the situation itself. They will involve a serious reorientation of education administrators and expending a huge sum on education, again. However, before it does that, if there is anything like a state of educational emergency, it needs to be declared now. The Houses of Assembly are willing to support the executives in each state in passing any bill that will facilitate the revival of education.
So let the government map out strategies that will ensure that the quality control measures earlier practiced, and possibly new ones, if desirable are adhered to. This is not possible until the executive arm empowers the civil servants saddled with the implementation of these policies. I have realized that most time their hands are tied by orders from above. They operate under conditions of fear, so much so that they cannot punish their subordinates. All facilities they need should also be provided.
With this in place, the chance is given for those of them willing to work for the revitalization of the system to do so. Attention will then turn on the few bad eggs that will not be difficult to fish out. Let the punishment for their corruption and negligence of duty be made severe. Let everybody, no matter his grade level, sit up and do what is assigned to him. If he is reluctant, he should be retired immediately and made to give the chance to others. There are many young ones bubbling with the energy required for a change.
Let teachers be given all the encouragement they need to teach our children. With good wages and welfare, most of them will be willing to serve diligently. They need to be supervised and their schools inspected regularly. Already many of them are performing commendably even under the present constraints. Once such measures are met and any of them is found wanting, he should also be made to relinquish his job outrightly. From my brief contact with them, I believe that majority of the teachers like their job.
Let government embark on massive purchase of school materials, improve on feeding and rehabilitate structures at minimum cost. At the end of it, measures must be taken to ensure the safety of the items purchased and of the funds released. Otherwise they will go down the same drain, as did those before them.
Do we have any hope? Aaah, no … and … yes! We are in a political era. Politicians are often associated with complacency and the desire not to hurt anyone. They would rather concentrate on projects that will earn them praise quickly without risking blame from anybody, even for a day. Here, Governor Muazu has pledged to make a difference. As the first half of his first term (we pray for a second one) come to an end, the question is would he be strong enough to risk being a politician with a difference? People in the state are grateful for the special schools gesture. Children admitted in them are happy, very happy in fact. But it should only be the beginning. There are 78 (!) other schools to be attended to. Would His Excellency, for the sake of providence and for the sake of God, extend the opportunity for better education to other children by coming out with a policy that will sanitize the remaining schools? We know, in doing so, his opponents that would like to see the sector, important as it is, remain idle would become frustrated. He will also definitely collide with the beneficiaries of the present state of decay. Would he bulldoze his way on, as is his habit usually, even if the two camps boast of threatening his re-election?
If the answer is in the affirmative, I will look forward to the day I will return to Sakuwa and meet the mates of Hasan, Usman and Haruna busy learning in a decent school environment. Their sisters, together with them, will also be there, eager to acquire the true weapon of liberation.
If the answer is negative, last Wednesday will forever remain as a final divide between the fate of the selected three and that of their mates whom they left behind. The three will mount the ladder of becoming elite, enjoying all the benefits of civilization. The rest will sink in poverty disease, ignorance and disappointment. It is the undesirable divide that can be avoided, right now.
Enrolment and Falling Standard of Education
Enrolment and Falling Standard of Education
Presently, state governments willing to revive education are faced with a dilemma. What do they do with the gross imbalance between the high student enrolment they inherited on the one hand and the lack of enough learning resources on the other? Undoubtedly, this imbalance directly affects quality of students. Such governments cannot simply gloss over this problem because without addressing it, whatever is spent on the structural improvement of the schools will surely amount to nothing.
This essay attempts to emphasize the need to decongest our schools and bring back the regulatory mechanisms through which quality was once achieved before the decay in the system set in.
History
At the debut of western education in this country and especially in the North where it met with stiff resistance, increase in enrolment of students was initially considered an encouraging development. The concern to make the sector attractive by governments continued well into the mid-seventies. Until then, managing standard of education was not a big problem because student enrolment and resources were balanced.
Those of us that had the opportunity to benefit from that dispensation would recall how our class size was kept relatively small, not more than 36 pupils. We all had adequate bed space and a variety of uniforms to wear in our boarding schools. Our meals were balanced and served on time. The infrastructure was adequate; every boarding school enjoyed clean drinking water from a borehole or from a general supply that was regular. In addition, all secondary schools were boarding, a condition that provided the maximum concentration students required for learning.
In those good old days, standard was largely maintained through a student population policy that is best described by a pyramid. Only a fraction of students, the best among them in fact, crossed from one level of the educational ladder to the next. This ensured better results and good management of the little resources available then. A secondary school that boarded up to a thousand students, if ever found, was considered too big a crowd to manage.
Thus from classrooms to dining halls, from hostels to sport fields, every child had the opportunity to enjoy facilities as did his contemporaries in other parts of the world. To sum it up, government did its best in making adequate arrangement for students to succeed. And that is all what it was required to do. It was left to us, the students, to work hard. Those who used the opportunity wisely became successful; those who squandered it have themselves to blame today.
The Present
The English say that comparisons are odious. That depicts any attempt to relate the state of education yesterday as described above and its condition today. I was shocked last week to learn of a day school in one of the north eastern state capitals with a population of over 7,000 students! My heart almost stopped beating. That was not the last surprise. I also discovered that in many metropolitan schools around, classes made for a maximum of 40 have today between 150 and 250 students.
What does any government hope to achieve with this? We do not need to talk about facilities, because under the present financial limitations, no government can claim to be providing even a quarter of the need of such students. Visit the schools and you will find that the students are living under sub-human conditions. Their teachers are no longer the immaculately neat ones we used to admire. On a visit to one of the secondary schools nearby, I found that the teachers have turned the classroom area into farms of corn, rice and yams. With their garma in hand and very dirty looking short nickers, they looked too haggard to be regarded as teachers.
There is little wonder therefore why the standard of students has fallen so drastically. Two incidents will make the picture clearer. Someone recently tried to assist a daughter of his friend with her homework. He soon realized that the girl that is in JSS III couldn’t even read English alphabets. A student of SSS I was asked the answer to 6 + 0. He said 9, faithfully.
Reasons
A number of reasons are responsible for the declining standard of education. They include under-funding, increase in enrolment, indiscipline among students, lack of teachers and facilities, etc. However, most of these are effects rather than causes. The cause, which is often ignored, is student enrolment. And unless increase in enrolment is done commensurate with available management skills and affordable resources, a stress will be exerted on the system beyond what its strength can withstand. Decline in standard of the product thereby becomes inevitable. State governments eager to improve education must pay utmost attention to this problem.
There are a number of reasons why our schools are congested. First is the philosophy upon which education was founded especially in the last twenty-five years. This philosophy was borrowed from the doctrine of social democracy of Europe and America that aims at an egalitarian distribution of both rights and resources among citizens. Political rights, it argues, have no meaning if citizens are not given equal opportunity in sharing resources. This is a noble objective, and it was natural that education became one of the sectors most affected by it because the economy of nations and individuals today are knowledge based.
This philosophy was borrowed by many developing countries especially those that were influenced by socialist doctrines. Egypt for example did so in the late forties and early fifties under the socialist regime of Naser. It made learning compulsory on every citizen. What was “aristocratic” was made “democratic”, to borrow from the parlance of the late Dr. Taha Husein, the father of modern Arabic literature. In his thesis, Dr. Husein observed that learning was accorded to only a small fraction of the population that undertook it. But with democratization, its gates were opened to all and sundry, something that will need considerable skill and resources to manage.
Nigeria started to borrow this philosophy with the introduction of free primary education program in the defunct Western Region. But critically speaking, school enrolment was expected to rise nationwide due to both increases in the population and the percentage of parents interested in education. By 1975, our population must have increased by at least 25% over its 1963 figure, when we last had an officially published census. By that time too, students that went to primary schools in the early 1950s have tasted the benefits of education and have also become parents of children who were ripe by the early 1970s to enroll in schools. So there were demographic and other social pressures on primary and secondary schools that required them to increase their enrolment by 1975.
The issue of planning became central as the two pressures persisted to the present day. Government failed to change its policy. In fact it exacerbated the problem by introducing the Universal Primary Education (UPE) during the Murtala-Obasanjo era. Nothing really was bad about UPE, were adequate arrangements made for it and enough resources were available to perpetuate it beyond the lifetime of the regime. Unfortunately, both conditions were not met, and against all expert advice the government of that day went ahead to introduce it. As it turned out, the regime could not supply the enormous number of teachers required nor could the federal government, with the fall in oil prices after 1981, continue to fund the schools to the pre-1975 standard.
Secondly, beyond the primary school, standard could have been maintained reasonably if government had continued with some of its previous policies on absorption into secondary schools. As a result of politics and the desire of each state to get its fair share of the national cake in which student enrolment is a determining factor, more secondary schools were opened during the Second Republic. So admissions went berserk. Almost nationwide, checks and balances in the system were abandoned.
Then came what they call ‘automatic absorption’ of primary school pupils into secondary schools. In those days, a third of the students were weeded at the ‘common entrance’ examination. Then only half of the class would cross the ‘interview’. Thus, in a class of 36 in our primary school, only 18 of us ‘passed’ to various post primary schools in the former Northeastern State. Today, the common entrance examination is a sham, and there is no ‘interview’. Also, promotions from one class to another are practically automatic. Students are made to understand that whether they work hard or not they will automatically be absorbed into junior secondary schools in the name of a rubbish that is called 6-3-3-4.
This entailed two things. One is desecration of merit, or discouraging it entirely. Two, it over-stretched the resources of government. This is so because training a child in the secondary school, where some degree of specialization (and therefore more equipment, manpower and infrastructure) is required is about seven times that of a primary school child. And where are the resources to do this?
The third factor in the enrolment saga is the sad habit of most educators. Apart from adopting automatic absorption, admissions were decentralized from their position in the state ministry of education to schools. As a result of this, no state ministry of education in the North can today precisely account for the number of its students. Ministry officials, principals, vice-principals, game masters, etc, give admissions into all levels throughout the year. All it requires is N200.00. It is a very disheartening situation. The implication of this is that at every moment, someone somewhere is carelessly committing government.
The Future
In the end, we have schools that had the reputation for excellence transformed into dead woods inhabited by thousands of termites called students who cannot produce a single credit at GCE for years. This must not be allowed to continue. It must be reversed at all cost. We must ensure that we return sanity to our schools. I have always argued that nothing new needs to be introduced. The old concept of a pyramid is still valid and it will remain so as far as education is concerned. Finally, the bitter pill of decongesting our schools has to be swallowed.
I know that there are obstacles on the path of educational reforms, but with the resolve and endurance of government to do the right thing, they can be overcome. The decisions to be taken, the obstacles on their path and the resolve required to surmount them will, God willing, be the subject matter of our discourse next week.
Presently, state governments willing to revive education are faced with a dilemma. What do they do with the gross imbalance between the high student enrolment they inherited on the one hand and the lack of enough learning resources on the other? Undoubtedly, this imbalance directly affects quality of students. Such governments cannot simply gloss over this problem because without addressing it, whatever is spent on the structural improvement of the schools will surely amount to nothing.
This essay attempts to emphasize the need to decongest our schools and bring back the regulatory mechanisms through which quality was once achieved before the decay in the system set in.
History
At the debut of western education in this country and especially in the North where it met with stiff resistance, increase in enrolment of students was initially considered an encouraging development. The concern to make the sector attractive by governments continued well into the mid-seventies. Until then, managing standard of education was not a big problem because student enrolment and resources were balanced.
Those of us that had the opportunity to benefit from that dispensation would recall how our class size was kept relatively small, not more than 36 pupils. We all had adequate bed space and a variety of uniforms to wear in our boarding schools. Our meals were balanced and served on time. The infrastructure was adequate; every boarding school enjoyed clean drinking water from a borehole or from a general supply that was regular. In addition, all secondary schools were boarding, a condition that provided the maximum concentration students required for learning.
In those good old days, standard was largely maintained through a student population policy that is best described by a pyramid. Only a fraction of students, the best among them in fact, crossed from one level of the educational ladder to the next. This ensured better results and good management of the little resources available then. A secondary school that boarded up to a thousand students, if ever found, was considered too big a crowd to manage.
Thus from classrooms to dining halls, from hostels to sport fields, every child had the opportunity to enjoy facilities as did his contemporaries in other parts of the world. To sum it up, government did its best in making adequate arrangement for students to succeed. And that is all what it was required to do. It was left to us, the students, to work hard. Those who used the opportunity wisely became successful; those who squandered it have themselves to blame today.
The Present
The English say that comparisons are odious. That depicts any attempt to relate the state of education yesterday as described above and its condition today. I was shocked last week to learn of a day school in one of the north eastern state capitals with a population of over 7,000 students! My heart almost stopped beating. That was not the last surprise. I also discovered that in many metropolitan schools around, classes made for a maximum of 40 have today between 150 and 250 students.
What does any government hope to achieve with this? We do not need to talk about facilities, because under the present financial limitations, no government can claim to be providing even a quarter of the need of such students. Visit the schools and you will find that the students are living under sub-human conditions. Their teachers are no longer the immaculately neat ones we used to admire. On a visit to one of the secondary schools nearby, I found that the teachers have turned the classroom area into farms of corn, rice and yams. With their garma in hand and very dirty looking short nickers, they looked too haggard to be regarded as teachers.
There is little wonder therefore why the standard of students has fallen so drastically. Two incidents will make the picture clearer. Someone recently tried to assist a daughter of his friend with her homework. He soon realized that the girl that is in JSS III couldn’t even read English alphabets. A student of SSS I was asked the answer to 6 + 0. He said 9, faithfully.
Reasons
A number of reasons are responsible for the declining standard of education. They include under-funding, increase in enrolment, indiscipline among students, lack of teachers and facilities, etc. However, most of these are effects rather than causes. The cause, which is often ignored, is student enrolment. And unless increase in enrolment is done commensurate with available management skills and affordable resources, a stress will be exerted on the system beyond what its strength can withstand. Decline in standard of the product thereby becomes inevitable. State governments eager to improve education must pay utmost attention to this problem.
There are a number of reasons why our schools are congested. First is the philosophy upon which education was founded especially in the last twenty-five years. This philosophy was borrowed from the doctrine of social democracy of Europe and America that aims at an egalitarian distribution of both rights and resources among citizens. Political rights, it argues, have no meaning if citizens are not given equal opportunity in sharing resources. This is a noble objective, and it was natural that education became one of the sectors most affected by it because the economy of nations and individuals today are knowledge based.
This philosophy was borrowed by many developing countries especially those that were influenced by socialist doctrines. Egypt for example did so in the late forties and early fifties under the socialist regime of Naser. It made learning compulsory on every citizen. What was “aristocratic” was made “democratic”, to borrow from the parlance of the late Dr. Taha Husein, the father of modern Arabic literature. In his thesis, Dr. Husein observed that learning was accorded to only a small fraction of the population that undertook it. But with democratization, its gates were opened to all and sundry, something that will need considerable skill and resources to manage.
Nigeria started to borrow this philosophy with the introduction of free primary education program in the defunct Western Region. But critically speaking, school enrolment was expected to rise nationwide due to both increases in the population and the percentage of parents interested in education. By 1975, our population must have increased by at least 25% over its 1963 figure, when we last had an officially published census. By that time too, students that went to primary schools in the early 1950s have tasted the benefits of education and have also become parents of children who were ripe by the early 1970s to enroll in schools. So there were demographic and other social pressures on primary and secondary schools that required them to increase their enrolment by 1975.
The issue of planning became central as the two pressures persisted to the present day. Government failed to change its policy. In fact it exacerbated the problem by introducing the Universal Primary Education (UPE) during the Murtala-Obasanjo era. Nothing really was bad about UPE, were adequate arrangements made for it and enough resources were available to perpetuate it beyond the lifetime of the regime. Unfortunately, both conditions were not met, and against all expert advice the government of that day went ahead to introduce it. As it turned out, the regime could not supply the enormous number of teachers required nor could the federal government, with the fall in oil prices after 1981, continue to fund the schools to the pre-1975 standard.
Secondly, beyond the primary school, standard could have been maintained reasonably if government had continued with some of its previous policies on absorption into secondary schools. As a result of politics and the desire of each state to get its fair share of the national cake in which student enrolment is a determining factor, more secondary schools were opened during the Second Republic. So admissions went berserk. Almost nationwide, checks and balances in the system were abandoned.
Then came what they call ‘automatic absorption’ of primary school pupils into secondary schools. In those days, a third of the students were weeded at the ‘common entrance’ examination. Then only half of the class would cross the ‘interview’. Thus, in a class of 36 in our primary school, only 18 of us ‘passed’ to various post primary schools in the former Northeastern State. Today, the common entrance examination is a sham, and there is no ‘interview’. Also, promotions from one class to another are practically automatic. Students are made to understand that whether they work hard or not they will automatically be absorbed into junior secondary schools in the name of a rubbish that is called 6-3-3-4.
This entailed two things. One is desecration of merit, or discouraging it entirely. Two, it over-stretched the resources of government. This is so because training a child in the secondary school, where some degree of specialization (and therefore more equipment, manpower and infrastructure) is required is about seven times that of a primary school child. And where are the resources to do this?
The third factor in the enrolment saga is the sad habit of most educators. Apart from adopting automatic absorption, admissions were decentralized from their position in the state ministry of education to schools. As a result of this, no state ministry of education in the North can today precisely account for the number of its students. Ministry officials, principals, vice-principals, game masters, etc, give admissions into all levels throughout the year. All it requires is N200.00. It is a very disheartening situation. The implication of this is that at every moment, someone somewhere is carelessly committing government.
The Future
In the end, we have schools that had the reputation for excellence transformed into dead woods inhabited by thousands of termites called students who cannot produce a single credit at GCE for years. This must not be allowed to continue. It must be reversed at all cost. We must ensure that we return sanity to our schools. I have always argued that nothing new needs to be introduced. The old concept of a pyramid is still valid and it will remain so as far as education is concerned. Finally, the bitter pill of decongesting our schools has to be swallowed.
I know that there are obstacles on the path of educational reforms, but with the resolve and endurance of government to do the right thing, they can be overcome. The decisions to be taken, the obstacles on their path and the resolve required to surmount them will, God willing, be the subject matter of our discourse next week.
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