Unqualified Teachers In South West Private Schools And Failure Of Governance, By Tunde Abatan
Since the Western Region of Nigeria pioneered the Free Primary education policy in 1955 through the revolutionary exploits of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the region has been known for breaking new ground in other spheres of human endeavour in the nation.
Apart from producing first-class students in the nation’s universities and around the world, the region has produced the bulk of lecturers and academics in most tertiary institutions in the country. Indeed, only the South East region of the country came into reckoning especially when it comes to recording significant success in the West African School Certificate Examinations WASCE.
However, the story have since changed as Anambra state and some other states in south east have led the pack in recent years. During the just concluded University Matriculation Examination, UTME conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Ejikeme Joy, a student of Anglican secondary School Nnewi, in Anambra state came out first as she scored 362 to emerge overall best result in JAMB among students all over the country.
She is the daughter of an Okada rider in the state.
She did not even have the luxury of attending privates school in the state .
This is an example of what a well-run public education system can achieve in it’s citizens
The reverse has been the case for the South West region of the country.
Thus, when previous week, Professor Josiah Ajiboye, the helmsman of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, raised an alarm that seventy percent of teachers in private schools in South West region are unqualified and thus unregistered by the council, the whole world should knew the cause of the regions now backward position in education in spite of it’s hitherto leadership role.
It is because today, the number of functional public schools both elementary and secondary has nosedived.
With a total of only 36,017 public elementary schools to service it’s growing population of a conservative 45 million, this is a far cry from it’s needs.
On the contrary, the South West region now has majority of it’s students especially in elementary and secondary Schools on the region attending these poorly staffed private schools. The government public schools that are well staffed are I’ll equipped and not well run.
This has practically been the reason for the falling standard of Education in spite of slogan of providing free education by successive governments in the region.
In the last two decades, most parents especially the middle class of all levels, now enroll their children in private schools as a result of the lack of enough attention to quality public education by successive governments. From dilapidated structures in public schools to low morale of teachers in training, supervision and lack of equipment in public schools.
A visit to science laboratory of most public schools is a sorry state to behold. If government that is supposed to set standards in education has failed to take care and ensure good quality of its own schools,how then does it regulate establishment of mushroom schools by private citizens who are only motivated by profit.
Unfortunately, regulations on the establishment of private schools are either not strictly adhered to or left to market forces as most parents don’t want their children in I’ll functioning public schools.
Except for the first and second-generation primary and secondary schools in the towns and cities in the region, others in the rural areas are either ill-staffed or have no teachers at all while teachers are often reluctant to accept postings outside urban centres.
Another issue, to which the six state governments has to pay utmost attention is the Inspectorate division in public schools which ensures quality of teaching. In those days of yore, head teachers and principals are constantly under the close scrutiny of Inspectors from education ministries who often pay unscheduled visits to public schools.
Inspection of schools has practically disappeared today as a visit by education officials are pre-arranged and ‘organised’.
Yours truly can count the number of private primary and secondary schools in my native town of Abeokuta in the late 60s and mid 70s Today, the reverse is the case. This has given rise to mushrooming by opportunistic private school proprietors. If the state of Rwanda that just escaped from a genocide can adopt policies that will make parents return their children to patronise public schools, why are our elected governors and politicians who used free education to win votes refusing to do the needful?. It is without any iota of doubt that at least 80 if not 90% of our political leaders in the South West today are products of public primary and secondary Schools. Why then have they killed the system that gave them opportunity of western education when parents of their contemporaries in many parts of the country especially the Eastern region pay through their noses to go to school? Most of the governors in the South West today, only don Awo’s cap and left behind Awo’s thinking, attitude and strides and scramble to eat the cake for the benefit of only their family. What is more, out of the sixty technical colleges in the whole southern region which produce the middle-level manpower for their use, only twenty of such poorly equipped and I’ll staff colleges are in existence in the region known for its firsts. Mention Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun with the exception of Lagos with its standardized technical schools, they are only technical colleges in names.
There is an urgent need for a realistic Summit on arresting falling standards of Education in the South West region and the consequent unqualified Teachers in seventy percent of private schools. Needless to say, the quality of the teachers has replaced the hitherto centre of excellence which the region’s public schools are. Paying lip service to free education when government supply only few exercise books is killing education in the region and a consequent descent into a failed society. The Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, DAWN, should do for the region education sector what it is now doing for Electricity and Railway by holding a Summit on arresting the sorry state of Education in the region as a part of its regional integration goal.
This is realisable especially since Education has always been on the concurrent list. The blame for the present sorry state of South West falling education standard is on the shoulders of the ruling political class who themselves are products of functional public schools they have contributed to destroying. A stitch in time saves nine.
