This is a gathering of eminent academicians, Professors, Vice-Chancellors and Education Practitioners eminently qualified to dissect the problems besetting African education and proffer solutions.
As an individual and a father, I am a customer of the education business. My son will also be a customer. I wish to approach my topic from a clients’ point of view.
The question therefore is: If “the customer is king”, and a “customer is always right”, to what extent does the individuals and institutions whose business it is to provide me with what I want, what I need, go to satisfy my wants and needs.
As an African living in Nigeria for instance, why should I get secondary and tertiary education? What do I want from my education providers?
The answer is simple: to be equipped to excel in my environment, to acquire the necessary tools to live in the modern world. And that includes among others; the ability to express myself, to get a job and earn income commensurate with my learning and abilities.
So if after acquiring my LLB,LLM, PhD or whatever high sounding degree that exists, if the aforementioned needs are not met, the education business have failed me and I should go back for a refund...yes, refund my money!
In today’s global economy, the goal post and what I need to live in the modern world is further expanded. A graduate from Africa should no longer be content to get a job in his country, for example.
The world is now a global village and multi-national companies reigns supreme. An African graduate will thus expect to compete with foreigners for the available jobs in his own country. He could also apply to work in companies based abroad.
In the UK for example, City Law Firms in London employ Lawyers from China and Australia; City Financial Institutions from India, Hospitals source doctors and Nurses from Hong Kong, Philippines, IT experts are employed from India.
So an African education should equip an African Law graduate to get a job in Link-Laters London. A Graduate of Finance in UBS Switzerland; Barclays Capital New York; British Petroleum etc
Now, many countries from Africa belong to the Commonwealth, with English as the official language. It is to be expected therefore that Law graduates from Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe– tutored in the common law system - should be able to get jobs in City Law Firms. But that is not so. But you see the Chinese working in these Law Firms after learning English.
When I came to London seven years ago as a qualified “BARRISTER” from Nigeria I discovered to my chagrin that I am ill-equipped to compete for places in UK Law Firms so I had to back and do further studies at the University of East London. (Employability Depts.)
Oil has been discovered in several countries in Africa including Ghana and Angola. Sudan and Libya etc are major suppliers of oil. But who are being employed in these international oil firms? Italians, Americans, Norwegians, Chinese...whereas a country like Nigeria that discovered oil in 1958 should be supplying oil experts to these African countries if our education curriculum is synchronised with the needs of the oil Industry. Our educational Institutions should be able to supply the human capital needed for these businesses, but that is not the case.
WHY?
The education Business (please I note I always use this term, “education business”, because it is business) in most countries in Africa is facing monumental challenges. From what has been said in this conference these problems include resource inefficiencies and misallocations in the composition of public spending across educational levels, and poor quality of schooling from elementary to higher education, gross enrolment rates both at the primary and secondary levels are low, even when compared with the averages for other developing economies and is worse in Sub Saharan Africa.
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I am representing Transform Nigeria Citizens Initiative, popularly known as Transform Nigeria Movement, This week we hope to submit a memo to the Honourable Minister of Education, on the way forward based on the Resolution of the Education Reforms Committee of the Transform Nigeria Movement at their meeting held on the 18th of July, 2010.
The Nigeria Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, on July 20, 2010 unveiled a six-prong, one-year education development strategy for the country.
I can say with confidence that our submission to the Minister could be equally applied to other African countries.
We identified 8 serious problems with the Nigeria education sector that was been ignored in the government plan Education Strategy.
1. The penchant for Nigerian political office holders to educate their children abroad or in expensive private schools.
2. The Curriculum of the educational Institutions is out of sync with the needs of the Business Community of the 21st century.
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We observed that while the recommended UNESCO international target for government investment in education suggests that 26% of the national budget should be invested in education, in Nigeria, the amount budgeted for education has continued to go down – about 8% - in comparison to the amount spent on maintaining the expensive lifestyle of our political office holders.
We equally pointed out a research study conducted by Dr Fred Okwo, Dr Eunice Okeke, and Mrs Catherine Oreh, at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in December 1996, titled ‘Enrolment Trend and Drop-Out of Boys in Primary Schools in Eastern States in Nigeria (1993-1996) showed that the four Eastern states under study are recording a decreasing trend in both boys and girls enrolment in primary schools and a constant increase in dropout rates of boys enrolled in secondary schools between 1993 and 1996.
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We at the TNM concluded that Nigeria is still using antiquated education system of the past decades already abandoned by the international community.
The Nigerian educational sector cannot compete with the advanced technologies of this world; we are still using chalk and blackboard when the world has gone digital.
There is currently a tri-partite apartheid in Nigeria education system: The super rich educates their children abroad, the middle class go to private schools while the public schools is left for the dregs of the society.
We therefore made the following 11 Recommendations:
1. Primary Education should be made free, compulsory and comprehensive. Primary schools should be so funded so that minimum financial commitment will be required of parents.
2. The Constitution should be amended to make the obligation to provide free and compulsory education up to University level justiciable.
3. A bill should be enacted by the National Assembly to make it compulsory for the children of political office holders to educate their children in public schools in Nigeria or else should quit and become private citizens - Transform Nigeria Movement should liaise with other stakeholders to sponsor such bill
4. Government should strictly observe the UNESCO’s recommendation of 26 per cent of the nation’s annual budget to the education sector.
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Another area we have to look at is a change of attitude. To this end The Transform Nigeria Citizens Initiative has initiated a program called 'My Generation Project' (MGP)
My Generation Project (MGP) is a cohort program that emphasizes that corruption is not beneficial to self and community. MGP will specifically design an anti-corruption curriculum that will help to disseminate accurate information about the effects of corruption in the Nigerian society and the consequence of flouting the law.
This Curriculum is adapted to enable participants will learn about International anti-corruption organizations, the judicial system, Community development, civil obligations & Human Rights, anti-corruption strategies, Conflict Resolution, Diplomacy, Due process, rule of law and good governance. Emphasis is laid on Speaking the Truth, Leadership, Ethics, and Diversity.
We at Transform Nigeria Movement believe that the state of a country’s education is a reflection of the state of their economic development and the general attitude of its citizenry to such issues as corruption, rule of law, good governance and due process.
So the second phase of My Generations Project, MGP, is the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Academy.
The Academy will function as a centre for anti-corruption capacity building, promoting best practices in investigations, monitoring and assisting Nigerian law enforcement agencies and interested Nigerians in newer areas such as accounting, forensic science, ethics, and impacting transformational leadership training for anti-corruption officers and business executives.
Another Project that we have established and we hope should be pushed into the Education system is aimed at inculcating the volunteer spirit in our youths. It is called Community Development and Volunteer Project.
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