• Nigeria Education Sector Review 2014.

    With few hours to the end of 2014, we bring to you the 2014 Year in Review, with focus on Nigerian education. Join us as we go through the highlights of the education sector in the outgoing year.

    No doubt, the year 2014 has been an eventful year for Nigeria’s education sector. It will always be remembered as a year in which a generation of young school girls was kidnapped and nothing is heard of them again even as the year winds up! It has also been a year of incessant strikes by various staff unions from primary to university level and several other events which further deepened the dwindling fortunes of the sector.

    A look into some of the events certainly does not reveal much to cheer about. Chibok schoolgirls Of all the events that took place in the sector in 2014, the abduction and continued captivity of Chibok schools girls by the insurgent group Boko Haram, has been the most devastating. Today makes it 260 days that the sect captured about 200 of the girls in their hostel at night and their whereabouts is still unknown.

    The activities of these terrorists, especially their relentless and senseless war against students and academic institutions to demonstrate their hatred for Western education and culture has been a major draw-back in the nation’s education sector.

    Except in some urban centres, many schools in the three troubled states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa are still shut, thanks to the insurgents who turned the schools to a war zone for most part of the year.

    Ebola outbreak

    Another major event in the year was the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease, which prolonged primary and secondary schools resumption nationwide after a long vacation. Aside that the development slowed down the academic work at that level, it caused lots of crisis in the country.

    Strikes

    Another striking occurrence in the year was incessant strikes by different trade unions in schools. Although this cut across tiers of education, that of the polytechnics and colleges of education was outstanding.

    The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) for instance, started the show as a carry-over from the previous year when they went on a seven-day warning strike before embarking on a full scale strike.

    They embarked on the strike over the non- migration of members at the lower cadres on CONTISS 15 salary scale; non-release of the White Paper on the visitation panel to the federal polytechnics; non-commencement of needs assessment of Nigerian polytechnics; the poor condition of the state-owned polytechnics/ monotechnics; and the continued appointment of unqualified persons as rectors by some state governments. Other issues raised by the union included failure of most state governments to implement approved salary packages (CONPCASS) for polytechnics and 65 years retirement age.

    The alleged refusal of government to accede to the union’s request made the body to declare a total strike in October which lingered for about eight months before it was suspended in July when the new minister assumed office. Just as the tension was being doused, the workers in the Federal Ministry of Education took to the stage.

    Their action was also a carry-over from the last year’s unresolved issues with government over non-payment of their accumulated promotion allowances. The teachers of the federal unity schools nationwide were not left out of this struggle. Under the aegis of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, they went on strike for several months also for the nonpayment of their accumulated allowances.

    The university system was not left out of the season of strikes in the year. Although, it was restricted to the early part of the year, except for few universities like the Lagos State University, Ojo, the injection of N200 billion by the Federal Government into the system, among others saved the situation.

    Mass failure

    The organisations that conduct external examinations for the senior secondary school students in the country recorded mass failures of candidates in their exams this year, just like previous outings.

    A majority of candidates for both WAEC and NECO could not obtain passes that could qualify them for admission into the tertiary institutions. For instance, in the May/June 2013 WASSCE, candidates performed very poorly as many could not secure credit passes in five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.

    The case of WAEC’s November/December exam, results of which was released last week was no difference. In that exam, according to the council’s Head of National Office in Nigeria, Mr. Charles Eguridu, about 70 per cent of the total candidates could not obtain credit passes in five subjects including English Language and Mathematic, the required subjects’ combination to secure admission into tertiary institutions.

    The implication of this was that only about 30 per cent of them passed the exam. Similarly, in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination by JAMB, only about 25 per cent of about 1.5 million candidates who sat for the exam were considered for admission in all tertiary institutions in the country.

    New minster appointed

    After nine months that Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa’I was sacked in September last year with the Minister of State in the ministry, Mr. Nyesom Wike coordinating, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau was appointed as the new minister of education.

    To many, his appointment was a good omen to the dying sector. But six months after, Nigerians are still waiting for the miracle expected to happen through his leadership.

    Intervention fund

    Aside the injection of N200 billion by the Federal Government into the university education this year as a fall out of the strike by ASUU most part of last year, some funds running into several billions of naira were also made available through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to provide infrastructural development in the public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.

    Almajiri schools To increase pupils’ enrolment in schools especially in the northern part of the country, the government established more Amajiri model schools as well as creating avenues to address the out- of-school children.

    Nigerians no doubt will be praying for a better year in 2015. Perhaps with the election, a new government will emerge with better focus and plan for the sector. For now, everyone eagerly awaits the New Year and its promises for the education sector.

    Source: National Mirror Newspaper.

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