"Purpose-Driven Education": Statement as a Discussant at the APC Policy Forum
By
Professor Mobolaji E. Aluko
Vice-Chancellor, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State
Transcorp-Hilton Hotel, Abuja-FCT
May 21, 2015
I bring you greetings from Otuoke, where, despite present political realities, we expect fair and respectful treatment from the incoming administration. Moving on quickly, I am particularly pleased to make a contribution as a discussant here in this session titled "Achieving Holistic and Sustainable Reforms in the Education Sector".
I took notes as former Minister Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi made his presentation, and I am pleased to note his key points of inter-generational education challenges, his astute differentiation between enrollment, school attendance and real functional education, his call for outcomes-based evaluation of students at each level of education, and the absolutely essential need for training, re-training and incentivization of teachers,
In making my own contributions, I would like to emphasize that under a Change environment, I would hope that we will emphasize what I term "qualitative, purpose-driven education" of ALL citizens, from cradle to grave, for pre-K children to adults. By purpose, I emphasize first individual development, then national citizenship, but most importantly national development SPECIFIC to Nigeria, but that will at the same time make the country to be globally competitive. If we are to be really serious about national development, our education must be truly science-and-technology based, broadly-conceived, starting very early in our educational system with curricular emphasis on mathematics, English and civic studies, all steeped in technology-assisted teaching and learning, coupled with staff training, re-training, and credible quality assessment that has continuous student and staff testing components.
Our education pipeline is as vulnerable as our oil and gas pipelines, and therefore we must address and set specific targets about what happens to "graduates" from each of the levels of our educational system. APC's manifesto commitment "to the eventual eradication of illiteracy by guaranteeing and enforcing nine (9) years of compulsory basic education to every Nigerian child, as the minimum level of formal education" [see http://www.nigerianmuse.com/20150531025819zg/change/apc-manifesto-a-new-party-for-a-new-nigeria/] is laudable, but it must be complemented with emphasis on maximum advancement and/or employment prospects of our young and older adults as they exit at different levels (or education ramps). We cannot afford to continue to produce discontented graduates at dead-ends at each education levels. We again note here that APC's manifesto has a target of 75% for "transition rate from primary to secondary schools" by 2019.
This ambition for qualitative, purpose-driven education requires money – to finance food, books and equipment for students, staff training as well as teaching, learning, living and recreational facilities. APC's manifesto of tripling "education spending over the next ten years, from current 8.5% to 24.5%" (presumably near the mythical UN number of 26%) is mathematically correct only if the total money available triples…imagine if that money shrinks by more than a third, and suddenly 24.5% becomes less than 8.5%! What is needed is a TRUE computation of what quantum of money is needed to train students at each level, and to ask parents (through school fees), community, government (through merit- an needs-based scholarships, grants and loans) and the organized private sector (with education tax fund and tax incentives) to commit their contributions sacrificially. School fees should not be taboo. We need honest, efficient, effective and data-driven funding and expenditure on education to succeed, with courageous action by APC sorely needed to plug corruption-induced financial leaks that pervade Nigeria's governance, and take away resources where they are most needed.
Local governments should truly be empowered to handle public primary education, which is really the most important level of our education pipeline; school-friendliness, proper staff training and friendly facilities are essential here. State governments should be empowered to take on secondary education, with greater encouragement for return to boarding schools and sectarian private ownership, with full understanding that there will be some graduates exiting at this stage who could be going into the work-force. At the late-stage tertiary level, private (but qualitative) institutions should continue to be encouraged, but rather than have MORE public institutions, greater emphasis should be on doubling to quintupling to increasing admissions by an order-of-magnitude increase, with the ratio mix of students being 70-30 science/technology-based students rather than humanities/social science. Increasing access, enhancing quality, requiring regional focus, observing international standards and ensuring low-, middle- and high-level skills graduates that can work together right from the classroom must be clear objectives placed in the fore of all tertiary institutions. The public and private regulators and funders of the education industry – the federal and state ministries, commissions and boards, from NUC to NBTE, from UBEC to TetFUND, from NUT to ASUU, etc - must be put into heightened spotlight, to ensure a less incestuous relationship between the regulators and the regulated, and to ensure corruption-free, efficient and effective funding and sacrificial advocacy.
In closing, I have entered into the records a table below (Table 1: Purpose-Driven Education for Change: A Framework for Preliminary Discussions) that summarizes the contributions above, as well as a related diagram (Figure 1: Politics of Change and its Rings Around the President) that places the incoming President in a spider-web of issues that separate him from the Nigerian citizen, a maze through which he must cut for true CHANGE to occur and to succeed, including in the education sector. His personal example, the use of the presidential bully pulpit to elevate education, particularly of the girl-child, to link it with personal, citizenship and national development, and not only to rail but to act against corruption, to name a few issues, will be heavily scrutinized in the days and years to come.
I thank you for listening.
Bolaji Aluko
May 21, 2015
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TABLE 1: "PURPOSE-DRIVEN EDUCATION FOR CHANGE" – A FRAMEWORK FOR PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS
(By Prof. Bolaji Aluko)
| | | | | | | |
| | BUZZ WORDS | | | EDUCATION LEVELS |
| 1 | Education for Development | | | | Age (UN) | Age+ |
| 2 | Qualitative Education for All | | 1 | Pre-Kindergaten | 0-3 | 0-3 |
| 3 | Education for Personal & Citizenship Development | | 2 | Kindergaten | 3-6 | 3-6 |
| 4 | STEEM (Science, Technology, English, Engineering and Mathematics) Emphasis | | 3 | Primary | 7-12 | 7-17 |
| 5 | Free, Mandatory Education to Secondary Level | | 4 | Secondary | 13-18 | 13-21 |
| 6 | Subsidized Tertiary Education | | 5 | Tertiary | 19-29 | 19-33 |
| 7 | Life-long Learning | | 6 | Adult | >30 |
| | | | | | | |
| | REGULATORS | | | ISSUES |
| 1 | Federal Ministry of Education | | 1 | Students | |
| 2 | State Ministries of Education | | 2 | Academic Staff | |
| 3 | Local Government Departments | | 3 | Non-Academic Staff | |
| 4 | Commissions | | 4 | Curriculum | |
| 5 | Boards | | 5 | Teaching and Learning Facilities | |
| 6 | Other Ministries, Departments & Agencies | | 6 | Living and Recreational Facilities | |
| 7 | Professional Bodies (Including Staff Unions) | | 7 | Governance | |
| | | | 8 | Financing | |
| | OTHER CONSIDERATIONS | | 9 | Community Involvement | |
| 1 | International (Standards, Aid, Export, etc.) | | 10 | Quality, Monitoring, Assessment & Accreditation | |
| | | | 11 | Post-Graduation Opportunities (Pipeline and Employment) | |
| | | | | | | |
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FIGURE 1: The Poltics of Change and its Rings Around the President
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