With the dawn of a new year, after an uneventful 2015 in the Nigerian education sector, stakeholders have called for effective monitoring of the budget for the sector; more emphasis on science and technology; improvement of infrastructure; staff training; and allocation of more money for research in higher institutions, among others as they anticipate an improved sector in 2016. Funmi Ogundare and Peace Obi report
The pronouncement by President Muhammadu Buhari that N369.6 billion will be allocated to education this year was one of the few cheery news in the sector in 2015. The president promised to focus on unemployment and underemployment; address the chronic shortage of teachers in public schools across the country, as well as partner state and local governments to recruit, train and deploy 500,000 unemployed graduates and NCE holders.
He also proposed that through the office of the vice-president, a programme on home-grown public primary school feeding and free education for science, technology and education students in tertiary institutions will be established, saying that it will mark a historic milestone for the country.
The president’s proposal to the National Assembly may mark a milestone as experts call for more emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); development of human capital, review of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME); and full autonomy for federal universities, among others.
Sharing his expectations for the year, the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), Mr. Olawunmi Gasper, said more emphasis should be on STEM, adding that it is the cornerstone of national development. "Technology is power and it is everything and everything is technology.”
He argued that the emphasis is now on non-oil revenue, saying that proper deployment of science and technology will naturally be the country's inexhaustible oil for the future, the platform of development and wealth creation and undoubtedly a job spinner for the youths.
Gasper stressed the need for STEM teachers to be exposed regularly to the relevance and applications of the subjects taught in secondary schools.
Gasper stressed the need for STEM teachers to be exposed regularly to the relevance and applications of the subjects taught in secondary schools.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Rahaman Ade-Bello, said the way the country handles its education matters a lot, adding that emphasis should be placed on development of human capital, rather than certification.
He expressed concern about the implementation of policy relating to development of human capital, saying that it is usually a challenge.
He expressed concern about the implementation of policy relating to development of human capital, saying that it is usually a challenge.
"When you go to oil industries in Nigeria, majority of the staff are Filipinos and Indians. How do you do it? If you have a degree, it does not mean anything and after your degree, you now go to specialise. You see welders; they could have a degree in science or physics before they go to welding school. They know the theory and they know the practice. When you see them in the industries, they are well armed but here, we don't dedicate appropriate resources for such situation.
He also expressed concern about the standard of education from the primary school level, saying that when the foundation is weak, it would affect the tertiary level.
"When you talk about education, we cannot limit ourselves to the tertiary level because it comes from below, and when it is wobbled, the top cannot be straightened up. We know what the problem is with primary education, aside the crisis today, the public primary education system has been bastardised and it goes from the input in the children at the level, if the output from primary school is not good enough and they go straight to secondary school and to tertiary institutions, it cannot be straightened up."
The vice-chancellor also called for the review of the UTME, saying that its administration has de-emphasised technical education and the college of education system.
"How did we get to where we are in the country today? Everybody wants to come into the university now; it wasn't like that 10 or 20 years ago. How did we remove emphasis on technical education and college of education system? I now realise that the administration of UTME might have been part of it.
“Before, those who really wanted to go to polytechnic will go to polytechnic and those who wanted colleges of education will also go, but when you now say they should start doing the same examination that came to my mind as one of the issues that created problem for the university system.”
Ade-Bello added that the proportion of students that go into university is usually less than 20 per cent, even in developed countries. “The bulk of them are in vocations and that is why those who are in vocations even earn more money than graduates because they are the ones that will do the work and they are in demand everywhere.
“But when you place emphasis on university education and not everybody is a university material, and then we run into serious problem in the nation. There is need to look at the evolution, how we got to where we are and really retrace and retract our steps so that we can move the nation forward."
For the Vice-Chancellor of Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, Prof. Ayodeji Olukoju, the budgetary allocation to primary, secondary, vocational or tertiary education has to be considered, adding that what goes into the recurrent expenditure, salaries and running cost of overheads and how much goes into capital.
"For instance, for the public tertiary institutions, how much will be committed to expanding students’ hostels, upgrading facilities, creating an enabling and conducive learning environment on campuses and how much will go to the top five, or top 10, as well as the newly created institutions considering the rise and fall of naira rate against the dollar.
"The question is how do you monitor the implementation? So these are the issues we need to put into consideration when looking at the allocation. It is not just the money in absolute terms or relative terms, it is what really gets there because it all depends on how much we earn from oil. Now we are talking of $38 per barrel, supposed it crashes to $28 or $32!"
Beyond the budget, the VC said focus should shift radically to basic education, primary and junior secondary, vocational and technical education, adding that the country has failed in terms of teacher training, student enrolment, funding, equipment and procurement, among others.
"At the level of the universities, we should seriously think of empowering some universities. You know in those days, the Japanese had a policy of empowering the strong against the weak. Normally you empower the weak against the strong. But in Nigeria I think we should adopt that strategy of empowering the strong against the weak which means that universities that are doing well must be well empowered so that they can compete continentally against South African universities," he said.
A Senior Lecturer at the Department of Educational Psychology/Guidance and Counselling, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin, Lagos, Dr. Dayo Daodu, said apart from the promise of employment to about 500,000 teachers by the Buhari administration, which will lead to the development of education, more money needs to be spent on universities so that they can complete favourably with their counterparts globally.
"Looking at the rating of universities universally, Nigeria is very low. In fact we don't have any Nigerian university that is rated within the top 100 and that is why government needs to pay more attention to our universities this year so that we can be recognised in the world."
He stressed the need for improvement in the areas of facilities, infrastructure, training of staff and more money for research, adding that if these areas could be improved upon, the rating of Nigerian universities would also improve.
Daodu expressed concern that polytechnic graduates are poorly rated in the country when compared to the counterparts in the universities, and stressed the need for the government to formulate a policy that would correct this.
Daodu expressed concern that polytechnic graduates are poorly rated in the country when compared to the counterparts in the universities, and stressed the need for the government to formulate a policy that would correct this.
"An additional year should be added to the Higher National Diploma (HND) so as to bring it to the same level with first degree, instead of the discrimination in the labour market, which is killing our polytechnic education.”
The Director, Omolewu Academy, Bucksman Height, Okeho, Oyo State, Mr. Segun Omolewu, called for a change in policy that would accommodate entrepreneurial education such that when students graduate from secondary schools, they will be employers of labour rather than job seekers.
He argued that the cancellation of grade II and III teachers' certificate has eroded quality teachers that love teaching as a profession, saying that almost everyone now opts for teaching because they cannot cope academically with the standard of other professions.
"This is why the cut-off mark for education related courses is the lowest in all universities. Low grades cannot produce high quality; you put in your best in the profession you love."
He stated that the standard of tertiary education is low because of the background of the students, adding that each university or polytechnic should conduct its own entrance examination and stick to its standard.
The director stressed the need for the government to stop approving more tertiary institutions in the country, but to ensure that the existing ones are brought to a level where they can compete with Ivy League universities and colleges of technology.
"States like Ogun has too much than they can chew. Let the colleges of education be upgraded to degree-awarding institutions."
He also expressed concern about the poor spoken English among graduates in the country, saying that education has lost its value in the country and that hardly can one find a university graduate whose spoken English is as good as that of a grade II teacher of the 60s.
"If your English Language is poor then you cannot comprehend the language of a standard textbook. The major problem is that Pidgin English has so overwhelmed the use of standard English that very few students that attend good private schools speak and read English."
"If your English Language is poor then you cannot comprehend the language of a standard textbook. The major problem is that Pidgin English has so overwhelmed the use of standard English that very few students that attend good private schools speak and read English."
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