Shabby structures, dearth of teachers threaten basic education

The basic education sector did not fare better in 2013, as it grappled with dilapidated structures, insufficient facilities and old teaching methods, write SAMUEL AWOYINFA, JOSIAH OLUWOLE, FEMI ATOYEBI and AKINWALE ABOLUWADE

In the outgoing year, basic education, which comprises primary and secondary education, was bedeviled with so many odds. From the North, South, East to the West, many states have issues with their basic education. Many grapple with dilapidated structures, old teaching methods, dearth of qualified teachers and facilities, among others.

These odds have direct effects on the academic performance and the psyche of pupils who pass through this system, especially in public primary and secondary schools.

From Lagos to Kwara, Kano, Ogun, Oyo, Bayelsa, Ondo, Yobe, Bauchi and Sokoto states, among others, many primary and secondary school buildings are shabby.  Some teachers are still teaching with Grade 2 certificates that they obtained in the 1980s; while those who have relevant qualifications are not exposed to modern trends in the teaching profession, either locally or at global level.

Both Federal and state governments have continued to pay lip service to education, consequently the average Nigerian child still learn in an environment not conducive for the exercise.

Miserable structures

Sometime in October, the walls of a community primary school in Adiye Owe, Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, collapsed and killed one pupil. Four others were injured.

The incident occurred while the pupils were on break from their lessons. The tragedy happened barely 24 hours after members of the Education Committee of the Ogun State House of Assembly decried the poor state of facilities in public schools across the state.

The lawmakers had condemned what they described as the allocation of huge state funds to the construction of model schools across the state at the expense of the existing public institutions.

Also the same month, pupils of Alaka Grammar School, Ozoro, headquarters of Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State, marched through the streets of the community protesting the neglect of their school by the authorities.

In some primary and secondary schools, the pupils are exposed to vagaries of the weather, given the nature of the buildings where they have their classes. Though Lagos State has taken some measures to address the issue of providing modern blocks of classrooms, there are still some yearning gaps.

In Idimu Community Primary School, Idimu, the pupils are found in ‘Jakande type’ of classrooms. The classrooms spotted broken ceilings and lacked enough furniture. It took a special report by The PUNCH before authorities waded in and repaired them, and provided more chairs and tables.

Some secondary schools, such as Ikeja Grammar School, Bolade Oshodi; Iloro Grammar School, Agege; Ewutuntun Grammar School, Mafoluku; and Fagba Junior Grammar School, Iju Road were also groaning under lack of sufficient furniture.

Some of the pupils sit on windows, some on blocks, while some stand during lessons. However, the Lagos Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, promised that the government would take action on the issue.

The story is the same in Ekiti State. Many of the primary and secondary schools, having suffered years of neglect, are undergoing renovation. Some primary schools at Ado-Ekiti, Oke-Imesi, Ekiti, Ikere, Aramoko, Iyin and Efon-Alaye have undergone various levels of renovation.

They include Saint Michael’s African Church Nursery/Primary School, Ajilosun area, Ikere Road, Ado Ekiti; St. Barnabas CAC Primary School, Ikere Road, Ado Ekiti; St. John Primary School, Are; Local Authority Primary School, Afao; St. Paul Primary School, Kajola, Ikere Ekiti; God’s Grace Primary School and St. Michaels Primary School, Oke-Imesi.

Schools in Esure-Ekiti and Ipaho-Ekiti are relatively small in size, but the classrooms appear conducive for learning.

However, the toilets in few schools require regular cleaning to prevent outbreak of diseases.

The Commissioner for Education, Mr. Kehinde Ojo, said the only challenge confronting education in Ekiti State was paucity of funds. The Commissioner, who described limited funding as a global challenge, said, “We have a dynamic society; so, there are challenges. There is paucity of fund, which is a global thing. For instance, if there were sufficient resources, we should have been able to procure computers for all the primary school pupils, just as we did for the 18,000 teachers in the state.

“We should also have provided recreational facilities, as well as school buses to convey pupils to school.”

Dearth of teachers

Despite some intervention measures in the education sector in Ondo State by Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who has built some modern primary and secondary schools, there are still some old schools which have fallen into bad shape. And some of them are found in the state capital, Akure.

The schools visited include St. Peters Primary School, Oyemekun; L.A. 4 Primary School, Akure; Ayedun Community Primary School, St. Theresa’s R.C.M. Primary School and St. Finbarr’s R.C.M Primary School.

All of them had a mixture of dilapidated as well as new structures. While some of them had their roofs completely mangled, some new buildings were already witnessing lack of maintenance with their ceilings falling off.

In Oyo State, traces of neglect and insufficient teachers are discovered. In the towns across Oke-Ogun, there is shortage of primary school teachers as a result of transfer requests by the existing ones to the urban areas. This has led to the planned recruitment of 2,500 teachers as announced by the state government on November 19.

Apart from this, secondary and primary schools in Ibadan main city are well equipped than those in the outskirt of the city. For example, the Community Primary School in Ojimi, situated in Ido Local Government Area of the state, is crying for attention despite the intervention of the State Universal Basic Education Board.

Our correspondent who visited during the Yuletide observed that out of the five blocks of classrooms, of which three were built six years ago, only two are currently in good condition. In the same council area is the Apata Grammar School, which looks completely neglected despite the construction of more classrooms. The roofs of the old classrooms have been battered by weather, while some have no roof at all.

Despite the transformation drive in some states such as Rivers and Osun, with huge investment in infrastructure and learning materials, the quality of teachers to ensure efficient delivery is cause for concern.

Failure rate among pupils

More than 70 per cent of candidates who wrote this year’s November/December West African Senior School Certificate failed to obtain the required credits in five subjects, including English and Mathematics.

For one to gain admission to the university in the country, one must obtain at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics in WASSCE or Senior Secondary Certificate Examination conducted by the National Examinations Council.

The West African Examinations Council announced the release of the November/December WASSCE results last week.

The WAEC Head of National Office, Mr. Charles Eguridu, while announcing this, also said the council withheld results of 38,260 candidates, representing 12.88 per cent, over alleged examination malpractice.

In many public schools, lack of basic instructional materials is evident; while the ratio of teacher to pupils is one to 100, instead of one to 30, which obtained in the past.

Besides, the recent UNESCO report says 10.5 million Nigerian children have no access to basic education. The Northern states are still confronted with the Almajiri issue.

Default on Girl-child education

A report released in October by the African Health, Human and Social Development Information Service, Africa Coalition on Maternal Newborn and Child Health and Pan African Campaign against Forced Marriage of Under-age Children, yielded some information on Nigeria’s position regarding the girl-child education.

The new study shows that many states are not doing enough on girl-child education. Apart from giving a breakdown of the states that are neglecting the education of female children in the country, it spells out the likely consequences of their actions.

Also, the report addresses the issue of forced marriages involving underage children and underage child-bearing. It indicates that Kebbi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Jigawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Katsina and Gombe states have the least performance indicators in terms of girl-child education.

The listed northern states have the highest female illiteracy rate, highest adolescent girl ‘marriages’ and highest number of under-18 child mothers, among others.

The scorecard, which considers these serious national issues affecting all the states, also throws up a startling revelation from the South-East. For instance, 57.8 per cent of girls in Ebonyi State are not in secondary school.

“There are scores worse than the North Central, North East and North West states such as Nasarawa (56.7 per cent); Benue (56.4 per cent); Adamawa (53.1 per cent); Kaduna (45.3 per cent); Plateau (45.3 per cent); Kogi (36.4 per cent) and Kwara (35.4 per cent),” the report says.

Ebonyi State is closely followed by Bayelsa State, which occupies the 13th position.

However, four states — Enugu, Lagos, Imo, Osun — feature in the all-best categories for all indicators: highest girl-child education, highest female literacy, lowest adolescent girl ‘marriages’ and lowest underage birth rates.

“And three others — Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, and Ogun — are doing their best in at least three of the four indicators; while Edo, Ondo, Bayelsa, Kogi, Abuja/FCT and Plateau are doing best in at least one or two of the best indicators,” the report further states.

For the adolescent girls in ‘marriage,’ Bayelsa State is number 13 on the list, with 23.8 per cent of its girls in ‘marriage,’ scoring worse than Adamawa with 20.4 per cent; Benue 20.2 per cent; Taraba 18.1 per cent and Nasarawa 16.1 per cent.

These three Northern states, the report indicates, in turn score better than Delta (22 per cent), Rivers 19.9 per cent) and Anambra (18.9 per cent). Besides, 10 states are said to have the highest number of girls that are not in secondary school in the North West, North East and North Central geo-political zones.

The report continues, “Between 67 per cent  and 87.1 per cent of girls are not in secondary school in the following: Five states from the North West (Kebbi, 87.1 per cent; Sokoto, 87 per cent; Jigawa, 80.7 per cent; Zamfara 76.8 per cent; and Katsina, 72.1 per cent). The four states  from the North East are  Bauchi, 86.7 per cent; Yobe, 77.4 per cent; Borno, 70.9 per cent; and Gombe, 67.8 per cent;  while the one from the North Central is Niger with 73.8 per cent.

“The same 10 states above, alongside Kano State, have the highest percentage of females ages 15 to 24 years that are illiterate, i.e. between 53.9 per cent and 86.9 per cent of females ages 15 to 24 years in the 11 states cannot read or write.”

In all, the report states that more than 50 per cent or half of girls in those states are not in secondary school. Six of the states are in the North West. They include Kebbi, with 87.1 per cent; Sokoto, 87 per cent; Jigawa, 80.7 per cent; Zamfara, 76.8 per cent; Katsina, 72.1 per cent; and Kano, 59.9 per cent.

Six other states are in the North East. They include Bauchi, 86.7 per cent; Yobe, 77.4 per cent; Borno, 70.9 per cent; Gombe, 67.8 per cent; Taraba, 57.8 per cent and Adamawa 53.1 per cent.

Although the criteria used in arriving at the figures were not stated in the report, the researchers noted that there are three states in the North Central: Niger 73.8 per cent; Nasarawa 56.7 per cent; Benue 56.4 per cent and one in the South East: Ebonyi with 57. 8 per cent.

Expressing concern over the report, lead advocate for the group, Mr. Rotimi Sankore, said, “The basic ability to read and write is the absolute minimum condition to function in a modern society, to escape from poverty and to contribute to community, national and African development.”

Teachers’ salary structure

A few months ago, teachers in about 11 states embarked on strike over the non-implementation of Teachers’ Salary Structure. Informed sources however say only three states have yet to implement the TSS. They are Cross River, Benue and Kogi states.

The TSS is the 27.5 per cent increase in teachers’ salaries, as approved by the Federal Government and binding on states. It may be recalled that the Governors’ Forum had entered into an agreement with the Nigeria Union of Teachers in 2008 to implement the new salary scale as from January 2009.

Teachers’ lacklustre performance

Some people in this profession see teaching as a last resort, and so do not give their best in imparting knowledge to the pupils in their care. Due to lack of motivation too, many just stay on the job, without giving their best.

Worse still, some who are supposed to have retired with their old and archaic certificates kept on tinkering with their credentials in order to reduce their ages and stay in service.

Last week, Edo State government sacked 836 teachers following a verification exercise carried out by the state’s department of Information and Communication Technology. Those sacked were said to have either  over-stayed their number of years in service, mentally unstable, physically blind or falsified their age and credentials.

It was also in Edo State that a primary school teacher found it difficult to read an affidavit supporting her credentials just a few months ago.

And in Ondo State, over 2,000 workers were discovered to have falsified their records during the recent verification exercise carried out by the state government. They were pardoned and restored last weekend.

Training, welfare package

Stakeholders in both private and public schools have agreed that teachers must be abreast of modern methods of teaching through effective and relevant training, both within and outside the country.

The National President, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr. Michael Alogba, says teachers have yet to get fair treatment in terms of remuneration, training and welfare.

He argues that apart from these issues, teachers are not involved in the preparation of curriculum — a situation which he says does not augur well for the development of education.

“Nigerian teachers are not well treated. They are still struggling to get to the Promised Land,” he says. “The welfare of teachers in some states is nothing to cheer. They lack exposure to both international and local seminars.”

An educationist, Mrs. Bisi Layiwola, agrees with Alogba that the issue of training for teachers must be of paramount importance.

“Teachers need encouragement. They need more training. They need to be shown how to improve on their teaching methods.  The conscientious and committed ones among them should be identified and rewarded,” she says.

Also, a United Kingdom-based educationist and director of training, The Klays Consulting, Mrs. Victoria Ikwuemesi,  underscoring the importance of the training of teachers in Lagos recently states that teachers have enormous influence on their pupils.

She states, “It is good to provide desks and chairs in the school. There is also the need to provide the pupils with computers; but all of these won’t add up if the teachers who are to impart knowledge are ignorant.”

She noted that teachers in Nigeria lacked the needed motivation and access to modern technology, unlike their UK counterparts.

A university lecturer, Dr. Adeoye Oyewole, believes that teachers are essential in any nation’s development drive; he argues that mediocre teachers must not be accommodated in schools.

He recommends that teachers must be made to write assessment tests to authenticate their competence and qualifications.

According to him, there are many things that are still not right with the quality of teachers and teaching.

He states, “For me, the quality of teaching in many public schools has depreciated. This was never the case when we were in school. My parents were teachers, so I know what I am talking about. Some of them may argue that it is because they are not well paid, but their salary was reviewed recently.”

Holiday Online Quiz Competition for Secondary School Students in Nigeria - Click to Participate. It's FREE!
Don't miss the next post - LIKE our Facebook page
Follow Us on Twitter for Latest Updates