LAGOS – Stakeholders in the education sector on Wednesday urged the Federal Government and Nigerians to see the 54 years of Nigeria’s independence as a time for sober reflection.
In interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, they said that the current challenges facing the country called for low key celebration of the Independence Day.
Dr Jamiu Oluwatoki, a lecturer at the Department of History and International Relations, Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, said, “all is not well in the sector as the future of Nigerian students is wavering”.
He said that though, there had been notable changes in the country since independence, the education sector was still lagging behind.
“Nigeria’s education system had moved to a better level than it was in the 60s.
“Rather than just one Federal College of Technology and few first generation universities then, we now have more than 100 public and private higher institutions, more professors, scientists, doctors and yet, the level of illiteracy and school dropout is still high.
“Nigeria is far below the recommended UNESCO’s 26 per cent budgetary provision for education, as the highest figure so far allocated to the sector is 13 per cent,” he said.
Oluwatoki said that the teachers’ poor salary structure and the dilapidated structures in schools were also another factors affecting the nation’s education standard.
“It is unfortunate that the performance of students who sat for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination yearly had been low with just marginal increase or decrease of less than 50 per cent,” he said.
Oluwatoki said that the nation’s education system in the 21st century was still less tied to the Information Communication Technology compared to other countries.
He urged parents, students and civil society groups to use the Independence Day to urge our leaders not to sacrifice the future of our country.
Also, Mr Olusegun Raheem, the chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Lagos State chapter, said that there had been tremendous improvement in the sector, especiallyin Lagos State, but more still needed to be done.
Raheem said public schools were still being faced with the challenges of shortage of teachers, adding that this was key to improving the performance of students.
“At the moment, there is need to employ more teachers, especially Mathematics and English teachers to improve students’ performance in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination.
“There is tremendous improvement in the area of infrastructure, constructions and major renovation works in Lagos State for instance,” he said. [eap_ad_1] The NUT chairman urged the state government to fully implement the 27.5 per cent Teachers Specific Allowance, adding that teachers in the state were still being paid 15.2 per cent.
“I believe if all the necessities are in place, then, sky is not the limit for our students and education system,” he said.
Also a parent, Mr Salawu Owoyemi, urged the state government to put in place adequate security in public schools and provide modern infrastructure and facilities to boost education standard.
“Provision of education and security by the government is the right of the citizens as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution,” he said.
In her remark, Miss Ganiyat Nosiru, a Mass Communication student at Kogi State University, urged Federal Government to guard against incessant strikes by the academic and non-academic staff of higher institutions.
“Incessant strikes are affecting the careers and motivation of students toward learning,” she said. (NAN)
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