The year 2024 for the education sector will go down in history as a period in Nigeria when students felt huge threats to their rights to learn and be educated.
It marked a year of extreme apprehension as many parents were caught in the web of evolving strategies to tackle the rising socioeconomic challenges.
As the year rolled to a close, issues that trailed the education sector included the global socio-economic turbulence, astronomical rise, specific challenge of astronomical rise in living costs in Nigeria triggered by the sudden removal of fuel subsidy, upward review of tuition fees beyond the reach of an average family, safety challenges, low funding, proliferation of universities and poor implementation of government policies, among others that made education sector as one of the victims of the year under review.
Almajiri/Out-of-School Children
The actual data on Nigeria’s share of the global out-of-children phenomenon remains controversial. Nigeria, considered by the World Bank as conflict-affected, has one of the highest number of children out of school in the world with an estimated 18 million children missing education, as poverty, insecurity and sociocultural practices and norms that keep children, particularly girls, out of school intersect to affect education.
According to the World Bank, the situation is made worse by increasing attacks on schools, particularly in the north of the country, as well as devastating climate disasters such as floods in September that led the Borno State government to close all schools.
However, during the year under review, the Almajiri And Out-Of-School Commission said it impacted over two million children and beneficiaries.
Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, the Honorable Minister Of Education at a summit by the Basic Education In Nigeria Bootcamp (Ben-B) said the implementation of policies through the activities of four of its agencies and bilateral development partners supported by the take-off of the Almajiri and Out-of-School Commission is making positive impact as part of the system-wide policy with a huge impact on Out-of-School Children.
He said, “The Federal Ministry of Education is set for and indeed has commenced the implementation of key policies distilled with system-wide outcomes and their deep practical effects in the life of this Administration.”
He said the policies captured by the Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training & Development, and Skills Development and Acquisition (DOTS) when implemented, will succeed in connecting the dots for the improvement of the overall education system in Nigeria.
Poor Data Repository
The importance of data repositories in fashioning quality policies remained one of the challenges bedevilling the education industry in Nigeria at all levels of the education ladder. As the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) stepped up efforts on data capturing, education at the foundational level remains the greatest victim of poor data repositories.
The poor data repository has affected the progress and development of the Nigerian educational sector as the government policies are implemented based on estimates. This has had serious effects on the sector as policymakers, school administrators, school managers, and international institutions cannot access current data to plan, design policies and support the development of education in the country. This has exponentially affected proper funding, shortage of infrastructural facilities and inadequate instructional materials, among others.
Emphasising the importance of data, Dr. Alausa said an uncoordinated data repository in the country has resulted in the citing of different figures for out-of-school children by governments and various bilateral partners.
Age Limit Controversial Age Limit Saga
The issue again points to the government’s poor implementation of its various policies.The development generated so much controversy and apprehension on the part of parents and guardians on the interpretation of government policy on unfettered access to nine years of formal basic education.
The issue generated heated national debate on the appropriate age to exit secondary schools and entrance into tertiary education.Amidst enormous challenges in the country, the former Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, embarked on an unpopular agenda that drew the ire and reactions of parents, school administrators and owners on the issue considered backwards by stakeholders in the education sector.H However, strained nerves were calmed as the federal government announced the sack of Prof Mamman and the suspension of the policy.
Sensing the mood of stakeholders, the government, through Dr. Alausa, who succeeded Mamman, backtracked on implementing the age limit for the 2024 admission.
Invalidation Of Togo And The Republic Of Benin Certificates
In August 2024, the Nigerian Federal Government announced the invalidation of degrees acquired from tertiary institutions in Togo and the Benin Republic. The government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from tertiary institutions in the two countries, especially after an investigative committee alleged that over 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fake degree certificates from these countries. The government also announced that only eight universities would be accredited to award degrees to Nigerians in these countries.
Amidst protests from graduates, their parents, and others, Dr Alausa dampened the hope of the over 22,000 students of Nigerian origin and said the ban on certificates obtained from Benin Republic and Togo, would remain in place to help eliminate fake certificates from the system.
Unrest At The Ivory Towers
As usual, staff unions at the various levels of tertiary education, ranging from the polytechnic, colleges of education, and university, were not left out of the struggle seeking redress of identifiable issues at that level of education.
At the College of Education level, the Federal College of Education, Akoka, Lagos got a dose of unrest as the college was shut down for several weeks over alleged tenure elongation by Dr. Waheed Azeez, the Provost.The Joint Action Committee (JAC) accused the Provost of high-handedness and other infractions that led to the suspension of the Provost.
ASUP Embarks On Strike
Academic activities in federal and state polytechnic were paralysed following a strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) to press home the implementation of their demands.
ASUP had, at a resolution reached at the union’s 112th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, warned it would withdraw the services of all academic and non-staff across Nigeria’s polytechnic system effective December 2, 2024, for a definite period of two weeks in the first instance.
The first day of the two-week strike crippled academic activities as lecturers stayed away from the lecture halls in compliance with the national directive.
Demands of ASUP include violation of the Federal Polytechnics Act, non-review of the contentious and suspended document, entitled: Schemes of Service for Polytechnic and Conditions of Service, non-release of the NEEDS Assessment intervention funds for 2023, usurpation of Academic Board function by NBTE on the admission of HND candidate, non-capturing of the Peculiar Academic Allowance of members for sustained payment in the planned post IPPIS era.
Others are refusal of most state-owned polytechnic to implement the 35 percent/25 percent salary review for members and non-release of the arrears of same in federal polytechnic, non-release/resolution on the owed CONTISS 15 migration arrears to members in the lower cadre, non-conclusion of the FGN/ASUP 2010 agreement renegotiation process, non-conduct of promotion exercises in some state institutions and non-release of promotion arrears in both federal and state-owned institutions and the intimidation of elected union officials by the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede and the non-release of the appointment of rectors in Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Bonny Island, Federal Polytechnic, Oko and Federal Polytechnic, Ukana even though the processes have since been concluded.
Increase In Tuition Fees
The Lagos State government joined other states and the federal government that had in July 2023 increased fees for Unity Schools from N45,000 to N100,000 per term, an increase of over 120%. Lagos joined as it announced N100,000 as the new fee for state-owned boarding schools. It was previously N35,000.
In a reaction, Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has described it as a violation of the Child’s Rights Act and Lagos State Child’s Rights Law. He lamented that with the increase being above the minimum wage of N70,000, “a worker can no longer sponsor even one child either in the Unity School or any secondary school in Lagos State.”
HND, JAMB And NYSC Saga
A new policy by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on the participation of the eligibility of Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates without the one-year mandatory IT programme, a prerequisite for registering at the orientation camp, rattled many polytechnic graduates
As products of polytechnic and mono-technics. point accusing fingers in the direction of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), it clarified that the board is not involved in the admission process for higher national diploma (HND) students.
Other issues that shaped the sector in 2024 included incessant harassment of corps members, an increase in tuition fees by private school owners, and rivalry at the National Association of Proprietors. of Private Schools, poor learning infrastructures, school building collapsed, non-compliance with counterpart funding Law, parents-teacher face-off, electricity challenges in tertiary institutions, state governments attitude towards UBEC counterpart funding, and low budgeting, among others
With signals to impact some positive changes, the new Minister of Education, Dr Alausa has hit the ground running with promises to make a difference.
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