My Manifesto: Education Sector in SouthWest, Nigeria
The evaluation of the South-West's Free and Compulsory Primary and Secondary Education Policy, introspection, and the necessity of restructuring the policy to address the needs of the region.
Preamble: The Year is 2038, Ọṣun State will have its four-year cycle of gubernatorial elections.
Five major candidates are running for Governor.
Journalist Interview (Name withheld/Unknown)
Correspondent: Could You Give Us a Quick Overview of Yourself?
Interviewee (me): Hi there, My name is Adebayo, and I am running for Governor of Ọṣun State, Nigeria, from the Ayedaade Local Government Area.
Correspondent: What policies do you have regarding education and the state's knowledge-based economy?
ME: To begin with, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our political forebears, including Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, the subsequent UPN Governors, and A.D. Governors, for establishing the South-West geopolitical zone as a leader in education, among other things. Their effects and policies are so significant that I would not draw attention to them for the sake of my audience.
One important policy, nevertheless, that I plan to concentrate on is FREE AND COMPULSORY PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION, which has been implemented in the Southwest since 1955 under the leadership of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria.
I firmly believe that it is time to reorganise that policy, which has already served its purpose and is now retrogressive, even if it has been in place for exactly 83 years, in 2038.
The world's population was smaller when the policy was first implemented, and the number of enrolled pupils and students was actually lower than it is today. The population's literacy rate was also lower, at least for primary and secondary education. The policy accelerated the number of educated people who would take over after the British left in 1960, and it has since produced six to seven generations of parents with advanced degrees. I dare say that Chief Obafemi Awolowo would have reconstructed such a strategy in 1995, forty years later, if he were still with us today.
Correspondent: Could You Name Some of the Reconstruction You Desire?
ME: I'll be careful to Re-organise "Free and Compulsory Primary and Secondary Education" in order to "AFFORDABLE AND HIGH-QUALITY SECONDARY AND PRIMARY EDUCATION"
Establish a Tier-Based Education Economy, that is;
Tier 1: Students who are Indigenous to the State must pay the lowest amount (easiness based on 30% of State Citizens' Per Capital Income).
Tier 2: Kwara, Kogi, Delta, and South-West Geopolitical Zone students must pay 20% more than Tier 1 students.
Tier 3: Students from Nigeria must pay 40% more than those in Tier 1.
Tier 4: Students who are not from Nigeria must pay 50% more than those in Tier 1.
The Tier System Education Economy Model generates economic sustainability and is extractive and subsidy orientated.
Would you support "Free and compulsory primary and secondary education in public schools," which States have been unable to adequately fund because of low state revenue and allocation, as well as a low education budget?
Public schools that are not self-sustaining, have poor quality because of inadequate funding, inadequate infrastructure, poor teacher quality, outdated curricula, lack of educational value, lack of talent or skills and a labour market, lack of employment opportunities, lack of continuity to tertiary education, etc.
Free Primary and secondary education has led to a quota system-based education that extracts the lowest minds, lowers graduate production and quality, and widens the quality inequalities between public and private schools.
OR
Primary and secondary education that is both reasonably priced and of high quality, with government subsidies provided through the annual education budget.
20% of the annual budget will go towards wealth creation, research, and education under my direction.
In order to establish a sustainable education economy, the Tier System Education Economy Model is used to extract additional subsidising monies in addition to government financing. Since this strategy also links education and industries, the total amount of money spent on education will really increase by 10,000 times.
How?
Pay-to-Study and Earn-During-Learn Model:
Every local government in the state will have a functional, well-funded vocational/technical college.
These colleges will offer courses in a variety of subjects, including woodworking and carpentry, electrical and electronic engineering, metal fabrication, agribusiness, commerce and trade, marketing, robotics and mechatronics, aero science, and civil engineering etc.
Companies who secure contracts for building, road construction, and other projects will source their contract employment from technical colleges, as the government will implement and enforce the state's Local Content Law.
These Vocational Colleges will receive contracts from the Government in related fields.
For example, if the government allocates N200 million for chairs and other wood items for all of the state's public schools, the department of woodworking and carpentry at these Vocational Colleges may be given the contract and evaluated for high quality.
Vocational colleges will be directly integrated with students from public primary and secondary schools in each local government. Public primary and secondary school students will have one term (approximately three months) out of the three terms of the academic year.
This term is typically the final or third term in these vocational colleges in related fields, and students will take part in the projects there and even be awarded contracts with a portion of the money earned from them.
Graduates of public secondary schools are given preference and have the chance to enrol in vocational colleges and earn certification.
They can also enrol in universities or polytechnics based entirely on preference and choice.
Study-Work-Industry Model:
A student at a vocational college is automatically a member of the college's limited liability company.
The private sector will also be connected to the vocational colleges, allowing private companies to recruit or employ from these institutions/college's limited liability companies.
Curricula:
The curricula of all public schools will be adapted to the 21st global economy's requirements for application and practicality, employability, talents and skills, and research. Industry-focused curricula will be taught. STEM will receive a lot of attention.
Infrastructure in Public Schools:
Classrooms, Laboratories, Teacher Welfare, Leisure and Sport, Fitness, and State-of-the-Art Facilities that Meet 21st Century Reality.
Education Trust Fund:
A certain percentage of the annual Internally Generated Revenue will go into the Education Trust Fund, which will be assigned to Yearly Audits as well as donations from Private Citizens, Companies, Foreign Aid, etc.
Teachers Training College:
Teachers will receive re-training every four years on modern teaching methods, skills, etc.
Their employment process will be Meritocratic, even though they are civil servants, and Indigene will be given preference, but it won't be a major criterion to get the job.
Board exams will be conducted to continuously test the teachers.
Yorùbá Orthography in Education:
Yorùbá Language will be Officially recognized as one of the two languages of Education; English and Yorùbá languages, therefore, State Government will fund Linguist Scholars to coin Yorùbá lexicons in STEM and other fields.
Textbooks and notes will be produced in Yorùbá language.
Yorùbá Orthography Institute will be established.
Scholarships for Indigenous Bursaries:
Only low-income and vulnerable families that are unable to pay for their children's tuition will be eligible for the scholarships, which are awarded to specific pupils each year. Nonetheless, information such as personal or family income and those with physical disabilities will be used for this.
The "AFFORDABLE AND HIGH-QUALITY SECONDARY AND PRIMARY EDUCATION" Policy and its potential effects include:
Young people's quality and productivity, which raises the Human Development Index (HDI).
An increase in graduates' employability
Enhanced Proficiency and Abilities
Jobs Creation
Influx of Students from private schools to State's public schools within the state, from other states in Nigeria and around the world.
Improved Quality Workforce
Increased Financial Support for the Education Sector
Formalised Business and Industries
Industrialization Drive
Large Skill and Talent Pool
I think this is very interesting. I am a teacher (not in Nigeria) so I definitely see some of the benefits of some of your ideas. A complete curricula overhaul is absolutely needed in Nigeria and comprehensive teacher training in pedagogy, students with exceptionalities, use of technology, etc is needed. I believe the use of the mother language (Yoruba) would also aid to an increase in literacy rates. In terms of the financial aspects, I don't particularly agree with it but I can see the logic behind this reasoning. I personally believe that education should be free (at least at the primary and secondary level). I am of the opinion that the focus should be more on increasing the spending allocation on education (as is done in countries that value education) rather than running education as a business. The government should be held accountable for their wastefulness in education spending. In addition, the idea of encouraging a tiered education system is not something I believe in. I believe that quality education is a public good that should be equally accessible to all people regardless of where they are from. I am not convinced that a tiered system will not be abused by bad-faith actors.