Teachers Who Can't Write Their Names End Up Spreading Ignorance To School Children, Adams Oshiomhole Warns
- Nigerians across the country have been urged to prevail on their governors to prioritise education in their states
- This advice was given to Nigerians by a former governor of Edo state, Adams Oshiomhole during an event in Abuja on Wednesday, March 30
- According to the former governor, there is a need to train, educate and skill up Nigerian youths for possible development
A former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has emphasised the need for an improvement in Nigeria's education system.
Oshiomhole made this call on Wednesday, March 30, while speaking at the official unveiling of the Transforming D' Intellectual Firmament of Africa-Community Development Initiative (TiFA-CDI) and inauguration of trustees.
The event organised by Policy House International and TiFA-CDI took place in Abuja with the aim for the latter to take over the 13-year role of the former's by championing the Incentive-Based Program for out-of-school children in Nigeria.
Source: Original
Need to develop initiatives that would help keep children in school
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Continuing, Oshiomhole urged Nigerians not to be carried away by politics but to seek ways to ensure that initiatives to keep children in schools are developed.
His words:
"Talking about education, one thing I want us to do is not to be carried away by politics, we have a law that says if a child is not in school, the parents should be prosecuted.
"That is the law of universal compulsory education, but as we speak, we have children who are being taught under the tree, that is if they are being taught at all. And we have teachers who can't even spell their names and they can only spread illetracy."
Education is key to Nigeria's development
Noting that with the lack of basic education, Nigeria appears to be failing in its national plan for growth, Oshiomhole said there is a need to train, educate and skill up her people for possible development.
He added:
"It is about harassing, engaging, terrorising and if I may quote Obasanjo even behaving like a rebel to force governors and governments to get priorities right with regards to education.
"It is not possible for us to boast of the ultra-modern government house but the most dilapidated schools and even to employ teachers and not pay them."
"You have angry and hungry people in the classroom, they can't be nice to our children and when they show no kindness to those children those children grow up without care without feeling, believing that the society is uncaring."
Addressing challenges in Nigeria's education system
In his address, the executive director of TiFA-CDI, Taiwo Akerele said the organisation decided to dedicate its core mission to education because the number of out-of-school in Nigeria is growing every day with the nation ranking top.
Akerele describing this as a national embarrassment said TiFA-CDI's 2020 report showed that for every child of school age kidnapped or abducted anywhere in Nigeria, at least 1,000 kids will be scared away from class for at least a minimum of 30 school days.
A fact which he said is detrimental to the growth of Nigeria's national economy if the security situation in the country is not immediately addressed.
Recommendations for the government of Nigeria at all levels
He also called for the declaration of a state of emergency in basic education across Nigeria starting with the vulnerable geopolitical zones of northwest and northeast Nigeria.
He said:
"We call on government to embark on a comprehensive and radical educational curriculum review across Nigeria and prioritize skills rather than old fashioned theories and colonial educational system that does not help human economic growth, skills acquisition and small- scale industry expansion."
In addition, Akerele urged the government at all levels to budget not less than 10 per of its annual spending on investment in education and capacity building. This he noted should be graduated on annual basis for the next 10 years until it gets to a reasonable threshold as recommended by UNICEF.
He recommended for accelerated steps be taken towards securing schools across the most vulnerable parts of Nigeria; bringing criminals who have abducted school kids for ransom and speedily prosecuting those whose actions led to the death of students in Kaduna, Zamfara and Borno states.
More home staying for Nigerian students as SSANU, NASU declare comprehensive strike
SSANU and NASU had on Friday, March 25, declared a comprehensive and total strike across Nigerian universities.
Both unions in a joint memo on Friday stated that the industrial action to begin on Monday, March 28, will come with no guise of concession.
No doubt, this will compound the already existing issue between ASUU and the federal government.
Dele Momodu, Sowore to pay for Nigerian students' NECO, JAMB fees? Shehu Sani speaks
Weeks after Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a 2023 presidential aspirant, had promised to pay for the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination fees for Nigerian students, Shehu Sani made some requests.
The former senator from Kaduna Central via Twitter on Sunday, January 30, called on Dele Momodu of Ovation Magazine and Omoyele Sowore to take up the responsibility of paying the JAMB and NECO fees of students.
He wrote on Twitter:
"We have a Presidential candidate who promised to pay WAEC fees when elected; my brothers Momodu and Sowore take up JAMB and NECO."
Source: Legit.ng
