Uneven distribution of schools in Lagos

Ayodeji Asemudara's access to education can best be described as makeshift. His classroom is a shack, covered by rusted zinc and a barricade of thatch. This is school life for hundreds of young students in Itu-Agan Community Grammar School. Itu-Agan, a riverine community in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area has no public primary or secondary school after 104 years of existence; a lack which spurred the establishment of the community school, especially to avert risks taken by school children who had to regularly cross the Lagos Lagoon to schools on the Lagos island.

"We don't have textbooks to read, no chair to sit down, and the floor is not good. I am doing almost 12 subjects and I don't have one textbook," Master Asemudara said about his school's condition.

Chibuike Umeh, on the other hand, attends Birrel Avenue High school, Yaba where he is taught in a crowded classroom with 79 other students.

"My class is overcrowded, and there are few chairs and lockers, so most of us sit on the floor," he said.

Schools' distribution affects students

According to a statistical data on the ‘educational sector overview' for 2009 available on www.supportourschoolsng.org, the ratio of teachers to students in Lagos state is: one teacher to 29 pupils at the primary level, one teacher to 38 students at the junior secondary level and one teacher to 30 students at the senior secondary level.

While the data might be accurate, schools' distribution pattern across the state is still uneven; some communities have overcrowded schools, some have depopulated schools, while some have none at all.

Like Itu-Agan, other communities like Tarkwa Bay and Obawole, among others, are yet to have public primary schools or secondary schools, as the case may be.

For instance, Lagos Island Local Government with 12, 664 primary school enrolments has 38 schools, while Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government with 13, 571 enrolments has 19 primary schools to cater for the demand; and this uneven distribution of schools across the state has left many children of school age yearning for affordable public education, close to them.

In another instance, 6, 857 senior secondary school students in Epe Local Government have access to 25 schools, while 27, 498 students of equal level in Alimosho Local Government have access to 20 schools.

What are the criteria for school establishment?

The public relations officer of Lagos State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB), Akinnosho Thomas told NEXT to speak to Education secretaries at any of the 20 Local Government Education Authorities (LGEA) in the state about the criteria for siting of primary and junior secondary schools in Lagos.

"The education secretaries at the various LGEA's can give you that information," she said.

The Education secretary, Agege Local Government Education Board, Olalekan Majiyagbe, directed NEXT back to Lagos SUBEB, Maryland, saying he was not authorised to speak to journalists.

"They have all the information you need over there; if there is anything that I am expected to share with you, I will have to receive the permission to speak to you," he said.

However, an official at Agege Local Education council who spoke under condition of anonymity said the siting of schools in the state has many conditions, one of which is lobbying.

"A community that needs a primary school has to write to the Local Government Chairperson, through the Education secretary, and all that, and for a secondary school the letter will be written to the State government. But they don't just write and sit down; they need to do a lot of follow-up," said the official.

"And some of the things also considered are the distance and the availability of enough pupils and teachers. Usually, it's difficult to get teachers to difficult or riverine areas," the official added.

Politics everywhere

According to Adebisi Adeogun, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, who specialises in Educational planning and policy making, the siting of schools on the basis of communal need has been fouled by politics.

"Some communities would be neglected for not being supportive in past elections, while some promises made by political officers before elections are not just fulfilled; that is why there is need for more private participation education," he said.

The educationist however, proffered ‘School Mapping' as central to the planning of education provision to students across communities.

"The government should rationalise the system by incorporating boarding houses in some schools; the schools in areas with fewer students should be made boarding schools, so that parents can send children there from areas with congested schools or areas with no schools at all," he suggested.