Government, ASUU and education in Nigeria

The suspension by the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) of its 169-day strike was no doubt a great relief to all stakeholders – government, students, parents, lecturers and other members of the academic community.  The  relief can, however, not restore the time lost. 

The length of time consumed by the protracted  strike will, as in the past, result in the elongation of periods of study of  tens of thousands of university students.  Most of the time, the differences between university teachers and successive governments have been irreconcilable.  While the government has been shirking its responsibilities, ASUU, on its part, appears to subscribe to the belief that strike is the most potent, if not the only approach to an industrial dispute.  The proverbial grass in the constant confrontation has always been the students and their parents.

The university teachers, through their union – ASUU – have been drawing attention to the progressive deterioration in the management and quality of education in the country.  A critical examination of the different levels of education will truly show that there has been a noticeable decline particularly in the public schools.  The problem has its origin in the ill-considered take-over of all schools during the era of military stranglehold.  The different denominations of Christian missionaries brought western education to this clime.   Communities, muslim missions and the various governments later began to contribute their own quota.  It was after the  take-over by the government that standards began to fall because it  could not sustain the level of supervision and resultant efficiency which the missionaries maintained.  

The decline set in from the elementary school level.  The rapid growth in the number of private primary schools brought about a sharp drop in the fortunes of public primary schools which were gradually abandoned for the children of the underprivileged.  The same situation has already replicated itself at the secondary school level.  In spite of the fact that teachers in the public schools are more qualified and better paid, productivity is much higher in the private schools. It is only the elite private primary and secondary schools to which affluent members of the society send their children that can boast of the same  calibre of staff as the public schools. The private secondary schools have been performing better in public examinations than their counterparts in public secondary schools just as private primary school pupils have been transiting to secondary schools in greater numbers than public primary school pupils.  That confidence in the public schools system has dwindled significantly cannot be a moot point.

One source of worry which has been a major contention of ASUU for  many years is that the decline being witnessed at the primary and secondary school levels as a result of the government’s neglect will soon extend to the universities if preemptive measures are not taken.  Nigerian universities that used to occupy a prominent place among their peers at the global level are now being poorly rated within Africa.  Laboratories are poorly equipped, libraries are no longer well stocked  and lecturers have been migrating in droves to other lands in search of greener pastures.  Necessary facilities are not being provided for learning and students welfare. The resources that should have been utilised to expand and provide vital facilities for existing universities are being committed to the establishment of new ones for purely political reasons.   Funds that should be used to provide basic requirements are, at times, spent on structures that do not add value to the learning environment. 
The ministries of education are a major contributor to the fall in the standard of education.  They lack the efficiency, commitment and zeal with which the religious missions monitored the performance of their teachers before the schools were taken over by the government.  It is not uncommon for students to be found roaming the streets because the teachers engaged to keep them busy are not in school to do the job for which they are being paid.  Some school buildings are dilapidated either as a result of negligence  or corruption.  Some of the top ministry officials are only interested in the award  of contracts and the benefits that will accrue to their pockets. There is hardly any evidence that the schools inspectorate divisions are still in existence.  

The present unenviable situation has resulted from the cumulative effect of the failings at the various levels of educational administration.  In consonance with the logic of ASUU’s argument, the liberalisation of education and the consequent proliferation of educational institutions should not result in the lowering of standards. The existence of private schools and universities does not justify the government’s lackadaisical approach to the education sector.  Furthermore, the colossal amounts of money being spent by those who have the means to send their children to foreign universities will mostly circulate in the Nigerian economy if the government lives up to these responsibilities. The government should redraw its list of priorities and give education a deserved attention.