Group wants Tinubu to declare state of emergency on education

The International Ford Fellowship Programme Alumni Nigeria (IFFPAN) has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately declare a state of emergency on compulsory basic education programmes across the country.

The group made the call on Monday in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES and signed by its media advisor, Austin Aigbe.

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

“In his 2024 Children’s Day Statement, the President reassured the nation of his commitment to providing a safe and secure learning environment for children, while enhancing the quality of education,” the group said.

IFFPAN urged the president to spare no effort in ensuring that young Nigerians have a solid footing for the realisation of their dreams.

State of emergency

The group is reacting to a viral video of a school in north-east, Nigeria, where students learn under deplorable conditions.

The statement further reads in part: “According to the information in the video, the school with a dilapidated bamboo roofing structure has 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 organisation in Nigeria. The teacher is under the employment of the state government.

“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 the group commended the state’s government for declaring free and compulsory education, Mr Aigbe said the school falls below minimum standard.

“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,” the group said.

“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.”

Demands

The group demanded that the Taraba State Government immediately identify other schools in the state in similar conditions and take appropriate steps to restore dignity in the public schools.

It urged governors nationwide to prioritise investments in the education sector and rescue primary education in their states, which is the foundation of good education, Mr Aigbe said.

“That the federal and state governments commit appreciative and incremental budgetary allocations to improve the education sector,” the statement said, adding that: “Private corporations and of course, individuals should invest and support all efforts by the governments in improving the education sector in the country.”