President Goodluck Jonathan in a recent pronouncement said the Federal Government would hands off funding of primary and secondary education in the country. According to the president, the measure will enable the FG to adequately concentrate on tertiary education while leaving funding of primary and secondary schools to state and local government and the private sector, which he said, can effectively handle these levels of education.
While some education stakeholders agree with the President, insisting that it is a good idea since the state and the local government are closer to the schools and also know the problems confronting schools in their areas, others, however, disagree.
Those who disagree with the President, argue that the proposed plan by the Federal Government amounts to an attempt by the government to dodge its responsibility. They see education as a critical sector that should be funded and taken care of by the three tiers of government.
Federal Government presently contributes to funding of primary and junior secondary education through the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme. Jonathan has however said if the government hands off the funding, it would be able to concentrate on improving the standard of university education in the country.
“The Federal Government may no longer participate in the handling of education from primary up to secondary level. I believe the states and local government and the private sector can handle that effectively. We will rather concentrate on raising standard of the university, because if you pass through university and the university passes through you, you will come out as good products,” he said.
Supporters of the initiative insist that it will work if the Federal Government releases the funds meant for education to the states and local government. They add that the government must set up an agency that will properly monitor the fund to bring about the desired results. Even with this, some argue that the plan may not work unless the Federal Government increases allocations to the states and the local government to cater for this important sector.
The president, who noted that parents desired university education for their children, lamented the inadequate slots for youths seeking admission into university in the country, stressing that owing to this many people are resorting to attending universities abroad, even at higher cost. He noted that education is one of the sectors the government is encouraging Private Public Partnership (PPP) and expressed hope that in due course there would be more admission slots and improved standard in the universities to the extent that going abroad for studies would have been discouraged.
Lagos State Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mrs. Gbolahan Daodu, said that the additional burden to the states and the councils meant that the Federal Government would allocate appropriate fund to the affected tiers for the purpose.
Daodu said, “At the moment they (FG) are meandering and intervening in all areas, even those beyond what they should do. It has gotten to a state that the money they should even vote and allocate directly to us to spend they are spending it to buying books and forwarding to us, and by appointing and training teachers. “So if by saying that they want to move out and give it to the state and local government that they will stop meandering, intervening into primary and secondary schools education, that is fine. But if they don’t mean that and they want the resources to be mainly from the state and local government, that means the nation has a lot of problem to face,” she added.
Professor Yomi Akinyeye, a national leader of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), observed that the FG staying off primary and secondary education is only a recipe for disaster. Akinyeye said the way out would be for the FG to transfer the needed funds to state and local government, considering the fact that primary and secondary levels of education are the recruitment ground for tertiary education.
“If the Federal Government hands off and the other levels of government are not adequately empowered to fund it, it will be a recipe for disaster. Federal Government should give more money specifically meant to fund education to these lower tiers of government. Leaving them without money and asking them to fund it will be a recipe for disaster because they are not in a position to look for such finances,” Akinyeye said.
According to him, there is also, however, every need to encourage any move that would bring focus on tertiary institutions in the country, which he said have been neglected for too long. “It is good that tertiary institutions should be focused upon because it is being neglected for too long, but focusing on tertiary education to the neglect of other levels will not take us anywhere. All of them have to be approached, although with different emphasis,” Akinyeye said.
Anthony Ashinwo, a school proprietor, remarked that if the modalities are right and the Federal Government is focused the idea would turn out not to be bad after all. He also noted that the state government knows the schools, adding however that private education will be expensive.
“It is the modalities that should be put right. The state knows the problems of these schools. If they see that a local government can handle some schools let them do so, but it will result to elementary education to be expensive for the masses. If the modalities are okay there is no problem, there is nothing bad in it,” he said. He advised government to always involve stakeholders in its activities so that they too will give their own input in repositioning the sector.
Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, Dr. Peter Nwadinigwe, said the proposed stoppage of funding of primary and secondary education by the Federal Government is in line with general desire by people particularly since the issue of the funding is on Concurrent List.
He stressed that it will bring about expertise and concentration of funding supervision, monitoring and quality control in tertiary education and proper policy direction in designing curricula to meet needs for national development adding that this will go in line as envisaged in view of sharing formula, the revenue allocation formula.
Nwandingwe said, “The state will have more money, there will be more allocation. The issue is to look at the secondary and basic education in primary school particularly with respect to ensuring that quality education is best achieved in relation to secondary education.
“For instance, currently many parents are withdrawing their children from private to public schools in Rivers State, because secondary education has become very qualitative and that is the same thing that Lagos State government and Balyesa State government are trying to do; to beef up the quality of secondary education in their zones. So if this is left to them exclusively and they have enough funds to take care, it will create a better forum for national development”.
However, former chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), University of Lagos chapter, Prince Oriwaye Adefolalu, took a swipe at the government on the initiative, saying it was not a serious move.
“This is the same government that will make promises and will not fulfill them. It is trying to dodge its responsibility. If they are toying with education, they are toying with the lives of generations unborn. It is unfortunate that those people that are governing this country for some years now don’t have the interest of the country at heart,” Adefolalu said.
He added; “They just woke up and said they wanted to put primary and secondary education in the hands of the state and the local government and the private, when we are still saying that the private primary and secondary school owners are using them to rip off the innocent parents.”
Adefolalu also said if any student goes to tertiary institution without sound primary and secondary education such a student is building on sand and not on rock. “We want to appeal to them that the issue of education should be given adequate attention. Some of them that are bringing these policies now are the same set of people that benefitted from free education from their primary to university levels”, he fumed.
Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNILAG chapter, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka, saw no problem in handing over the funding to the state and local government, adding however that the only problem is if the Federal Government fails to release funds to them adding that if the allocation is given to them they will do it well.
According to the Secretary, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Lagos State chapter, Idris Jamiu, the policy is not the best, arguing rather that constitutional provision should be made in such a way that the funding of primary and secondary education should be on the first line charge where the fund will be credited directly from the budget to the state and the local government. He added that if the fund is released to them it should be monitored properly.
“It should not be solely given to them. The Federal Government should still have the monitoring role so that the funds are expended effectively. What we believe in is that there should be a collaborative effort between the tiers of government, because primary and secondary education is the foundation level before the tertiary institution can stand. They should be interested in it apart from funding they should also monitor and supervise it so that there will be no derailing from the implementation,” he added.
Proprietress Ochad Schools, Lady Mabel Ojeikere, in her view observed that the move is not possible because education has to be funded very well. “That is what we have been clamouring for that we should be partners in progress. They have to give us grants to funds education not leaving it to us”, she said.
Micheal Tejuosho, proprietor of Mictech International School said the funding of education is a multidimensional issue, adding that it is not all parents that could afford the necessary funds required in educating a child. This, he said is why the government should put substantive budget to educate all children in the state.
“You see, to educate a child requires a lot of fund. I do not see any thing bad in private sector collaborating with the state and of course the local government. The fact remains that in our country, I have not found a government faithful, that is truly providing adequate facility for education in all the states of the Federation,” Tejuosho said.