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SCCD Declares State Of Emergency On Kwara Education Sector


SCCD DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY ON EDUCATION SECTOR IN KWARA STATE; CHALLENGES "COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION" AND "COMMISSIONER OF TERTIARY EDUCATION" TO A PUBLIC DEBATE.

The Society for Continuum of Change and Development (SCCD) Kwara State chapter on Monday, the 29th day of October declared a State of Emergency on Education Sector in the State and have also in the same vein challenged the "Commissioner of Education" in person of Hajia Bilkisu Oniyangi and the Kwara State "Commissioner for Tertiary Education" to a public debate on the deplorable state of education in the State.

In the words of the State coordinator, Jc. Issa Mutolib Ayobami, he said: "Education is more than just reading or writing, it's also more than sitting down in classes and learning language or arithmetics, education is the most important investment a Nation can make for it's citizens, as education helps people work better and can create opportunities for sustainable and viable economic growth for the future. Hence, any serious country or State must invest heavily in human capital development, of which education is the most viable tool to human capital development, no wonder the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) earmarked about 26% budgetary allocation on education for any serious Nation.

Jc. Issa Mutolib Ayobami noted that the education sector in the State was characterized by neglect and poor funding by the State government, this have over the years made for the decay and deterioration of basic school infrastructure and facilities across all sixteen (16) local governments of the State. There is also lack of enough classrooms in most schools in the State, this invariably made students congested in classrooms in many of those schools, we can't also be blind to the fact that some schools are situated in the same environment i.e two (2) or more schools sharing the same compound. A travel round the state would reveal to all and sundry what I term as an "educational eyesore of the century".

It is also of high importance to know that some schools have no desks or chairs for students to sit and write, there is inadequate or complete lack of teaching and learning facilities including sporting equipments, most libraries are non-functional and obsolete in places where they exist. I dare to say that the problem facing our education sector in Kwara State is critical, complex, and multi-dimensional, and these problems are what led to poor learning outcomes, high failure rate, and producing of half-baked secondary school leavers in the State.

The state of tertiary education in the State and that of students of tertiary institutions schooling within the State can best be described as a journey in the wilderness, the incessant strike actions by lecturers of state-owned tertiary institutions due to non-payment of salaries is alarming, this have caused an epileptic situation for learning as their academic calendar is truncated at will without notice. The high cost of school fees of those institutions is a slap on indigenes, and the lack of scholarship opportunities for students is an affront to the students' in generality. Even the meagre amount paid as students' bursary is not paid most times, and when paid, it's only to few selected institutions.

The SCCD State coordinator noted that part of the areas of attention the State government should look into include: the issue of drop-out school children, promoting and improving ICT learning in schools, bursary and scholarship of tertiary education students, payment of salary arrears of SUBEB and local government teachers, access the universal basic education commission (UBEC) funds, library services should be  prioritized, laboratories should be well equipped, ensuring access to quality basic education, reviving the practicals of technical and vocational education and training, prioritizing teacher's education and capacity building, reduction of school fees, an educational task force to ensure compliance with world standard educational policies, and lastly, the State government should increase the budgetary allocation of the education sector so as to revolutionalize education in the State.

Jointly Signed:

Lakadri Bamidele Monsur
State Secretary

Saliu Ayatullahi
State Publicity Secretary

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