There has been a sustained debate on what should be done to have a viable and quality education. There are increasing numbers of those in and out political offices including their technocrat friends who have held steadfast to privatisation as the only means by which we can make sustainable progress.
“...Government doesn’t have business in owning universities. Rather, it should pass a law turning them into Grant Aided Universities (GAU). After this, government can only assist the universities with the little resources at its disposal, which will in turn make the universities look inwards to be self-sustaining towards independent revenue generation...,” This was a statement credited to Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe in Monday June 29, 2009 issue of the Sun newspaper. Senator Adesesye Ogunlewe was reacting to ASUU strike. It is another way of consolidating the already largely underfunding of education, which is the bane of education.
Prof. Julius Okojie, the Executive Secretary of the National University Commission (NUC) had once said that student should be made to pay N150, 000 as school fees. Can Prof. Julius Okojie please tell Nigeria students and youths how much he paid while he was in the tertiary institution? The fees charged by the universities presently have become unaffordable by many working class parents, let alone charge more as a result of government irresponsibility. An incontrovertible fact is that the purchasing power of ordinary Nigerians is so low that they can’t afford basic needs, and when the advocates of privatisation demand or introduce policies that will further alienate more Nigerians students and youths from basic education, one wonders what they hope to achieve. It doesn’t occur to them, except for selfish reasons, how the factory worker, traders, pensioners etc. would send their wards to school. Is it that they want fewer people to get educated, or the level of illiteracy and ignorance to increase, and how does that advance the economy? The fact is that they want to remain beneficiaries of the system, and the only way to achieve that is to forestall the maximum usage of public resources for common good. The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) calls on Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe to publish how much he paid while in University of Lagos. The ERC reiterates its support of ASUU, NASU, SSANU strikes and demands, and calls on government to meet them immediately.
Also, the Lagos state government organised a symposium tagged “2nd Lagos State Education Summit” held on Wednesday and Thursday June 17 and 18, 2009 and concluded on a similar note. Virtually all the speakers as reported by The Nation newspaper of Thursday June 25, 2009, canvassed for private means of education, which invariably means handing off from proper funding of public education. Prof. James Tooley, a Professor of Education Policy from Newcastle University, submitted that the Lagos state government should extend funding to private schools to guarantee parents choice since pupils from private schools perform better than public schools.
The choice confronting Nigerian parents is not between private education and public education, but between free and quality education and crises ridden educational system. I know that majority of parents are looking eager for free and quality education better than what we used to have as they have no choice between an underfunded moribund public education and unaffordable/unworkable private education. It does not make any meaning for a government that can’t guarantee proper funding of education in order to guarantee basic learning facilities including a highly motivated workforce to extend funding to private schools. Government needs to assist private schools like other private enterprises through the provision of infrastructure and cheap loans, as anything you do without basic infrastructure wouldn’t work.
To Prof. Pat Utomi, government should withhold public funds to schools not doing well. He stated: “It is the old question of the tragedy of the commons- what belongs to all belongs to none. But there was a time in the country that public schools were doing well because they were well superintended. If a school is not performing, public funds should be withdrawn...” Prof. Utomi statement was contradictory as he was trying to hide from the truth. It is not true that what belongs to all belongs to none. What belongs to all and run privately to guarantee private interests can never be construed to belong to all. This was the tragedy that has befallen Nigerians. The only way what belongs to all can belong to all is when it is democratically managed and controlled by vast majority. It is not also true that what was responsible for public schools doing well in the past was because they were well superintended, but that education was better funded compared to now. Can any structure that lacks basic facilities be properly superintended? Prof. Pat Utomi’s tried to portray teachers as the problem with public schools, and the only factor that determines a vibrant educational system. That explains why he called for a bonus scheme (teachers to be paid bonuses in relation to their performances). What about the chaotic and deplorable state of our classrooms, teaching facilities, sports facilities? Are teachers responsible for dilapidated structures? I think it is government officials that need to be placed on performance assessment pays rather than the unjustifiable jumbo allowances they earn. Teachers are not well remunerated and so, they are not motivated in anywhere. But Prof. Utomi wants them to perform miracle.
Pensioners today die on queues while trying to get their peanuts; infrastructures are at its worst level; virtually all sectors of the economy are at a worrying state and the only way out is to restore the huge infrastructural deficit. Prof. Tooley stated that 26% of school children are in public school while 74% of school children in private schools. Invariably, the education sector like other sectors of the Nigeria economy is largely in private hands. What other manner of privatisation do they want?
What has become clear is the simple fact that all these proponents of underfunding of education had so enriched themselves and benefited from the system such that they could afford the best of private schools both at home and abroad, and pay huge sums of money. The irony of it all is that, virtually all the apostles of privatisation benefitted from public education; and are benefiting from the rot in the education sector. If the Lagos State government is interested in free and quality public funded education, it doesn’t need the advice of business men- the government knows what to do. Alhaji Lateef Jakande (first civilian governor of Lagos state) did not convey education summit of ‘business men’ before he pursued free and quality education in Lagos. In the same vein, Lagos state government did not convene any summit before embarking on road constructions across the state, even if, more ground still needs to be covered. The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) calls on the Lagos state government to provide all basic facilities in all the public schools at all level; the government should also build additional schools in order to accommodate more pupils/students; and equally pay workers (teaching and non-teaching staff) living wage, and this call goes out to all the 36 state governments and the federal government. That is the only sure way to guarantee free and quality education in Lagos state, and stop wasting tax payers’ money on numerous and unproductive summits.
Chinedu Bosah
Education Rights Campaign (ERC)
[email protected]
07033775517
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