Don wants govt to bar politicians from sending children to foreign schools

A Professor of Education, University of Lagos, Prof. Olugbemiga Aderele, has called on the Federal Government to bar political office holders in Nigeria from sending their children to foreign schools.

Aderele submitted that the Nigerian educational system had continued to suffer serious setback because political office holders and policy makers had given an impression that they had no confidence in the quality of the nation’s education.

The don said this in Abeokuta at a reception organised in honour of the Proprietress, Mercyland International Schools, Dr. Anuoluwapo Bankole, who bagged a Doctor of Philosophy in Education from UNILAG.

He added that allowing public officers to continue to send their children and wards to foreign schools would shield them from sharing in the “rottenness” of the nation’s education system.

Aderele lamented the failure of government to meet UNESCO’s recommendation of 26 per cent of the nation’s annual budget to the education sector.

He added that the growth of the nation’s schools had been crippled by poor funding, which had made it difficult for the products of the school to compete favourably with their counterparts from the technologically-advanced countries of the world.

He said, “Government needs sincerity, commitment and political will to the cause of education. Let the politicians educate their children in Nigeria. If they do, they will have interest in the education of the masses; but in a situation where they are providing what they themselves don’t believe in, it is a disaster to us.

“This was what the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo did in his own time. They believed in the quality of education they provided then; so, they did not only provide it but they participated in it. What the politicians are giving us are in the contrary because they don’t believe in it. That is why they are sending their children to the US, UK and other countries.

“We are still using the same system we used in the last two decades. The Nigerian educational sector cannot compete with the advanced technologies of this world; we are still using chalk and blackboard, face-to-face lecture when the world has gone digital,” he said.

Aderele faulted government for approving the establishment of “sub-standard private schools” that would not contribute to the nation’s educational system, saying such acts lacked sincerity on the part of government.

He said, “There are good private schools in the country but there are also lots of bad private schools which should not have seen the light of the day, what is government doing about them?”

The Chairman, Premier Paints Plc, Chief Ogooluwa Bankole, advised husbands whose wives were pursuing advancement in education to encourage them to fulfil their desire.

The occasion was attended by eminent Nigerians including the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; his wife, Olori Tokunbo Gbadebo; former Judge of the World Court, The Hague, Prince Bola Ajibola; and the wife of the Ogun State Governor, Chief Olufunke Daniel.