By Tolulope Ogunjimi
UNDOUBTEDLY, education is a key that unlocks potentials and ingredients for development of any society. Hence, energy and resources are directed towards ensuring that education is given its pride of place in the scheme of things. There is no field of human endeavour in Nigeria- be it medicine, law, accounting, arts or even politics-that does not have an indigene of the Ogun State leading the pack. This accomplishment could be significantly attributed to the positive influence of early western missionaries on the people. History has it that the influx of early western missionaries, who had initial contact with people in the area, did not only spread the Christian religion; it also gave the then much sought after western education to the people, especially in England and its environ. The positive effect of this on the development of education has remained extant.
It is widely accepted that education is pivotal to the development of any society as no nation could develop beyond the level of the educational or intellectual pedestal of its citizens. Most nations that are being reckoned with today attained such heights based on the quality of their human resource and the citizen’s creative ingenuity and intellectual powers, usually derived and nurtured through quality education.
Studies have shown that in comparative terms, countries with good educational systems have generally benefitted from higher economic growth. Japan, where primary and secondary education systems are excellent, has for a long time enjoyed a literate and skilled workforce. Some countries like the United Kingdom and the USA where higher education is developed have witnessed great advances in sciences, which have inturn improved industrial development.
In Italy and Germany where skill development has been facilitated by technical schools and well entrenched systems of apprenticeship, high quality engineering has contributed substantially to their economic success. India is one of the best examples of an economy aided by educationally-led human resources. With its national universities and hundreds of college graduates churned out annually, skills in computer programming have underpinned India’s booming revolution in information technology as well as the field of medicine. Given the fact that the world is now a global village, there is need for all nations to brace up significantly in the area of educating its people so as not to put them and the entire nation at the backside of under-development.
Coming back home, it is regrettable that Ogun State has before now had its own bitter pill of the indiscretion and national neglect suffered by the educational system. Perhaps, the most significant attempt to fortify the state’s educational system was under the administration of Bisi Onabanjo, which attempted to maintain the educational standard set by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Ever since, the state’s primary and secondary education sectors have been on the downward swing as public schools were not given priority attention.
As a result, many parents and guardians preferred to enroll their children or wards in the flourishing private schools. The rising trend in crimes perpetrated by the youth is also a manifestation of the poor school system. It is believed that many “okada riders” operating on our streets today are dropouts from public schools. It is against this backdrop that moves by the present Ogun Sate government under Ibikunle Amosun to re-write the story of the state’s education sector is laudable.
Worried by the decay in educational infrastructure, Governor Amosun on assumption of office commenced the facelift of several secondary schools, which buildings were decrepit. He made the schools environment conducive for learning.
Apart from making qualified and competent teaching staff available in schools, instructional materials and conducive classrooms are germane to the overall success of any education programme, whether public or private. But over the years, what we have witnessed in the state was a rapid decay in the education sector right from primary, post-primary to tertiary level. To further give teeth to its avowed intention, the Amosunled administration is continually distributing free textbooks and educational materials to students of public schools across the four geographical zones of the state. The books cover subjects like English, Mathematics, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Civic Education, Yoruba Language, Agricultural Science and Computer Studies. Others are Social Studies, Basic Science, French, etc. Senator Amosun, who was quite delighted at the flag-off of the exercise, noted that the gesture was in
tandem with the policy thrust of his administration as espoused in his inaugural speech in May 2011. He underscored the fact that education is a fundamental right of every citizen as well as a means of improving the quality of life of the citizens and that education cannot be said to be qualitative if students lack textbooks, stationery and other instructional materials. In addition, government has renovated secondary schools and some of the model secondary schools in the 20 Local Government Areas of the state were commissioned recently and are ready for use in providing an enabling environment for effective teaching and learning to thrive in the state. Also, the Amosun administration has settled the embarrassing backlog of WASCE and NABTEC fees of the state students, owed for years and has ensured regular payment of teachers’ salaries.. Ogunjimi writes from Kuto, Abeokuta.