Declare state of emergency on education— IFFPAN tells Tinubu

By Abubakar Yunusa

The International Ford Fellowship Program Alumni, Nigeria (IFFPAN) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to, as matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on education in Nigeria.

IFFPAN specifically urged Tinubu to spare no effort in ensuring that Nigeria’s children have a solid footing for the realisation of their dreams.

Austin Aigbe, President of IFFPAN, noted that the Tinubu, in his 2024 Children’s Day Statement, reassured the nation of his commitment to providing a safe and secure learning environment for children, while enhancing the quality of education.

IFFPAN is an independent, nonsectarian, nonpartisan, private, nonprofit, social justice organization for Nigerian Alumni (Fellows) of the International Fellowship Program of Ford Foundation United States.

The statement urged the state governors to prioritize investments in the education sector and rescue primary education in their states, which is the foundation of good education.

“The federal and state governments commit appreciative and incremental budgetary allocations to improve the education sector.The private corporations and of course, individuals should invest and support all efforts by the governments in improving the education sector in the country,” it stated.

The organisation said it has a viral video which depicted a school in North East, Nigeria, where students learn under very deplorable conditions.

According to the information in the video, the school with a dilapidated bamboo roofing structure, has a total of about 250 students, cutting across primary one to six and junior secondary school one.

“Also disheartening to note is that the school has one teacher, that teaches all the students, that is the primary and junior secondary classes. As stated by the maker of the video and a staff member of a non-profit organization in Nigeria, “The teacher is under the employment of the state government.”

It therefore called on the Taraba state government immediately identify other schools in the state in similar situations, while taking appropriate steps to restore dignity in the public schools. This call is also applicable to all state chief executives.

It read: “Following the preliminary investigation conducted by IFFPAN, we can independently confirm that the school is located in Taraba State, North East Nigeria, the state where the government is supposedly implementing a free and compulsory education policy. In July 2023, Governor Agbu Kefas declared free education in all primary and secondary schools across the state.

The State Government on April 5, 2024, in a letter signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Abel Joachim, suspended the Principal of Government Day Secondary School and his examination officer over an alleged plot to sabotage the free and compulsory education policy of the state government.

“While we commend the free and compulsory education of the state government under the leadership of Governor Kefas, we are concerned about the inhuman learning environment of the students in the viral video. We, therefore, condemn in strong terms the deplorable ambience, the poor learning architecture and the near absence of teaching staff in the school. The school in the viral video falls short of the minimum standards required for free and compulsory education.

“We note further, that vital key requirements for compulsory education are that the learning needs of students are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programs, added to this is the improvement of all aspects of the quality of education, and ensuring excellence for all, so that recognised and reasonable learning outcomes are achieved. There can be no reasonable outcome for learning for students in the viral video school; especially since one teacher is responsible for teaching the primary and junior secondary schools totalling about 250, including students with disabilities.

“While this is not the exclusive preserve of Taraba state, the education sector in the country is poor, requiring the urgent need to save the system. Evidence abounds of the deplorable state of education across the country. There is no contending with the deplorable standard of education – at least since the return to democratic government in 1999.