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| Professor Fidelis Oditah |
The First Class product of law and visiting professor at the Oxford University Faculty of Law identified three major solutions as pivotal in order to bring back the lost glory of the sector.
He noted that a world class education system is the indispensable condition for creating a fair and prosperous society as education is the key foundation to economic success saying in today’s world it is the key both to economic and social progress.
The Alumnus of unity schools in his keynote speech to mark the 21st Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) plenary and grand home coming held at Ogbomoso, lamented the academic and infrastructural decadence of the school adding “Whilst the Unity schools appear to produce good enough results in NECO, WASC and JAMB examinations, at least in comparison to other public schools, they do not now appear to enjoy any superiority over private schools.”
Considering the present state of unity schools, Oditah said: “I can’t send any of my own children to Federal Government College because it’s a shadow of the past.”
Useing unity schools as a case study of the falling education standard in Nigeria, the university don identified infrastructure, teachers and funding as imperative. According to Oditah, since the federal government has shown little or no concern about adequate funding, new funding sources must be sought after.
He said: “Allover the world, it has been realised that the government alone cannot fund education. In many developed countries, governments provide adequate funding for primary and secondary education. In Nigeria, the budget for education is tiny and decreasing in real terms. With all rapidly growing population, the funding in real terms can only continue to diminish at a time that the need for funding is increasing. Expecting the Fedral Government to increase the fundlng may not be fulfilled.
Alternative sources of funding , Oditah reiterated, should include schools alumni and social entrepreneurship. The new sources which could be the alumni directly or through a foundation or similar structures will bring not only a financial endowment but also vision, commitment, and a record of success from outside the state school system.
The result, he pointed out is likely to be vibrant schools with strong vision and leadership, state,of-the-art facilities, high standards, maximum capacity to innovate and entirely free to the pupil and parent, like it used to be in the past.
He urged the federal government to encourage corporate sponsors, who could participate in the funding and management of unity schools as part of their collective corporate endeavour or social responsibility.
According to Oditah, the innovation will help to stem the rot in unity schools, diminish reliance on state funding, break down old barriers which have bedevilled education for too long, inject new energy, commitment, and entrepreneurial zeal in support of our unity schools.
On the quality of teachers, Oditah stated that we cannot achieve our goals without a first-class teaching profession – a profession which is capable, well-led and properly supported adding that we need to reform the teaching profession, to reward performance properly and to improve the status, training and reputation of teachers whom we have far too long undervalued.
“Teachers, are the change-makers of modern society. In partnership with parents, they are the people who shape the skills, prospects and character of our young people. No other profession wields that power. In their hand lies the task of achieving the transformation in educational standards which I believe is our single most urgent challenge as a nation.
For too long teachers have wrongly been regarded as second class professiorials. This must change if we are to succeed in creating a world-class public secondary education in Nigeria. We need to make a fundamental change to the status of teachers in our society – putting them where they belong, on a par with doctors, lawyers and other top professionals,” he said.
Speaking on infrastructure, he said that we need a step-change in investment in school infrastructure saying that student should feel a real sense of pride and worth in their schools. His words: I don’t know how much is the capital budget for the unity schools but given the dilapidated state of most of the schools, a huge increase in the capital budget is required, if nothing else, at least enough to do the essentia1 patch and mend on existing schools.
“I understand that there were still schools with outside and pit toilets, many in a shocking state. When essential rehabilitation is completed, we need to invest in expansion of the existing facilities classrooms which were built for 25/30 students now house more than 50 students.
We need not just rew classrooms. But also state-of-the-art ICT, whiteboards, sports facilities, community facilities, public space, facilities for out-of-hours activities. All built around the needs of students, teachers, and the wider community. All geared to develop the talents of each individual young person to the fullest extent.
AS CULLED FROMhttp://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/11/i-can%E2%80%99t-send-any-of-my-children-to-fgc-prof-oditah/
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