Stakeholders urge Tinubu to appoint tested professional education minister

Eighteen days to the inauguration of the incoming administration of Bola Tinubu, stakeholders have appealed to him to appoint a professional in the sector as substantive Minister of Education.

They noted that the professional, who does not have to be a Professor of Education, should be someone who understands the issues and challenges confronting the sector.

They maintained that the budgetary allocation to education should be raised, while disbursement should be monitored to ensure delivery of infrastructure and facilities.

Chairman, Governing Council, Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Prof. Ayodeji Olukoju and Professor of Food Science, Adebayo Adeyemi, stressed the need for constant engagement with stakeholders to review progress and strategy.

“The success of any plan or blueprint is funding. The proposed students’ loan by the incoming administration is commendable and it’s a major way of addressing under-funding in our tertiary institutions. Nothing created by man is free, including education.

“That institutions in most developed countries are havens for Nigerian youths is because education is not as highly subsidised as in Nigeria. Students must be made to pay economic fees through the proposed loans, scholarships and bursaries; and with adequate and regular government subventions, underfunding in our institutions would be drastically reduced.  The incoming government should ensure that the issue of university autonomy is reviewed and implemented to the last letter,” they said.

They also enjoined the new government to audit the sector, identify priorities and develop a blueprint for the short and medium term solutions to the myriad of crises in the system.

Olukoju, in his remarks, said Tinubu should not hesitate to fire non-performing executives in the ministry and its agencies, and replace them with competent hands.

He urged him to sanitise the governance system in tertiary institutions, including the procedure for appointing principal officers, which he said, has been marred by politics, primordial considerations and corrupt practices.

“Governing Councils’ should be constituted to reflect merit and diversity. University autonomy should be upheld and corruption combated with all seriousness. The incoming government should, at a minimum, release the visitation panel reports and white papers, which the outgoing administration failed to implement”, he added.

They maintained that the budgetary allocation to education should be raised, while disbursement should be monitored to ensure delivery of infrastructure and facilities.

The duo also urged the new government to invest in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure for open and distance learning to expand access to education and focus on technical education to meet urgent needs in the economy.

On his part, Prof. Adeyemi said the incoming administration should be holistic in his approach.

The former vice-chancellor said at federal, state and local government levels; a needs assessment should be conducted and determined for primary and secondary schools, as well as all tertiary institutions.

“Where such documents exist, a review would need to be done and phased implementation strategies, including cost implications, should be worked out with the operators of the system.

Adeyemi said the issue of out-of-school children, nomadic and adult education should also be prioritised.

To reduce unemployment, especially among youths that could not acquire tertiary education, Adeyemi said attention should be on vocational and technical education.

He said:  “The curricula should include basic recent technological developments, especially information technology in the skills to be acquired. The Federal Government should not only enact policies that will ensure survival of the sector, it should also give matching grants to state governments that show evidence of thriving vocational and technical schools.”

Reminding that education is a critical aspect of national development, Adeyemi said it is imperative for the incoming government to not only prioritise the challenges facing the sector, but to proffer workable and practical solutions that would enable the government build on the gains of the outgoing and previous administrations, to ensure quality education.

For Prof Kayode Soremekun, the incoming administration should equip first-generation universities to train postgraduate students from the younger universities.

According to him, apart from the fact many of the students sent abroad are young and most times, do not return to the country on the completion of their studies, the huge cost affects foreign reserves.

The former vice chancellor of Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) also canvassed an increase in teachers’ salaries and allowances.

“How can you expect the optimum from a professor who takes home a miserly pay of N400,000?  To worsen matters, colleagues who were promoted six months ago are yet to enjoy the fiscal benefits of such promotions. The reason as advanced by the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS)  is that the issue is yet to be captured in the budget. Such a situation can only succeed in killing the spirit of the already demoralised spirit of our university teachers.

“Finally the incoming government may want to take a cue from South Africa. Please note that in every South African university, there is a Nigerian professor plying his trade.

But can you find South African professors here? No. What this means is that despite our much-vaunted aversion for apartheid while it lasted, the ruling class in South Africa successfully put in place a vibrant university system for that country. So vibrant that Nigerians have sought refuge there,” Soremekun added.