70% of Kwara private schools are in a sorry state – Naij.com author

Editor’s note: Hussain Obaro, Naij.com constant guest author, has carried out an on-site analysis of the private schools in Kwara state, and come up with a number of unconsoling conclusions.

The sharp decline in standard and quality of education has been a topic of the national discussion for a couple of years, with academicians, educationists and stakeholders proffering different solutions to the issue, causing a great deal of embarrassment and sleepless nights to the administrators of education nationwide. However, little or even nothing is being done practically to look into the very foundation. The near comatose state of the educational sector, especially the public schools, caused by the lack of adequate funding and the removal of the teachers’ welfare from the government priority list, has resulted in the preference for the privately-owned schools across the country.

Not even the exorbitant fees charged by the private schools are able to deter parents and guardians from enlisting their children and wards, as they have prepared to bear the huge costs to ensure the sound and quality education for their young ones. Some rich people even go as far as send their kids into the schools outside the country due to the lack of confidence in the Nigerian educational system. The strong desire of the parents to get their kids enrolled into the privately-owned schools encourages more business owners and individuals to set up schools and colleges, regardless of the fact whether they have or know what it really takes to establish such schools or not.

A carefully conducted research across the state has revealed the pathetic and unfortunate conditions the pupils are exposed to every day, all because the wrong people have been licensed to own and operate schools, probably because the officials at the state ministry of education and local government education authorities have refused to do their job, or have been adequately financially induced to grant the relevant licences. This is evident because there are laying down the rules, criteria and conditions the prospective school owners are supposed to meet before they can be given licences to operate. They include: availability of playgrounds and recreational facilities, environmental hygiene, classrooms with adequate space in order to prevent overcrowding of pupils, availability of first aid and health facilities, the properly qualified teachers, etc.

The findings have shown that more than 70% of private schools are housed in the rented incomplete-buildings with the surroundings that cannot be described as healthy enough even for animals. Apart from the fact that some of the schools are located close to refuse dump, public toilets and marketplaces, the majority of them do not have a playground or any recreational facilities. The pupils are left to roam the streets during breaks without the adequate supervision. Out of the 21 private nursery/primary schools and colleges visited across the state, only two have first aid kit. Transportation arrangement of many of these so-called “international” schools is a display of inhumanity and human rights abuse as the kids are being crated like stocked fishes in buses that aren’t even fit to transport firewood.

The qualification of the teachers in many private schools calls for worry and grave concern, as the majority of teachers employed by most private school owners are merely secondary school certificate holders. Even though the minimum qualification of a primary school teacher is the National Certificate of Education (NCE), most private school owners has formed the habit of cutting corners by employing the NCE holders as head teachers and assistant head teachers, with the rest of the teaching staff holding of the SSCE/WASSCE or the NECO, who would accept a monthly salary of between N5000 and N7,500 in their desperate bid to maximize profit. Many of these teachers can’t even express themselves in simple English. A particular private nursery/primary is located next to a bear parlor; another operates from a single lock-up shop, while many have very few classrooms that are either not properly ventilated, or have windows without covers. The funny part is that all of these schools claim to have actually been approved by the government, and licensed by the relevant education authorities.

If the supposed foundation of education can be so bastardised and handled with utmost levity, then the efforts of restoring the lost glory of education in Nigeria would be a futile and “dead-on-arrival” exercise. The universal basic education program at the states have been reduced to the “conduit pipes”, through which  the government resources are being siphoned by the political and administrative officials. We keep lamenting about the abysmal performance of students during the NECO and WAEC examinations, yet the very foundation has been totally neglected rot due to corruption, indiscipline and administrative recklessness.

Currently, most private nursery/primary schools and colleges aren’t any better than the public ones; this is because some people at the state ministry and departments of education approve licences to the individuals operating schools, without making sure that the relevant standards are observed. Under the supervision of the Kwara state ministry of education, there’s the need for the responsible officials to send out the inspection teams to evaluate the conditions and viability of the private nursery/primary schools and colleges with the aim of ensuring that rules and regulations, best practices and quality are maintained, if Kwara state and Nigeria’s quest to restore the glory days of education is to come to fruition.

Hussain Obaro is a writer, motivational speaker and public affairs commentator from Ilorin, Kwara state.

This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com or its editors.

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