Juliet Uduji
Education is everything that has to do with bringing positive changes to behavior of human beings. Education commences the day we are born till the day we die. Hence it spans from Creche to University, Polytechnics, Monotecnics and other higher institutions.
My little effort in this piece is to urge Nigerian governments – Federal, States and Local to allocate a chunk of their budgets to the Educational Sector, be it private or public.
That of Private could be in form of Grants, Aids or Interest Free Loans. This could be achieved by having Specialized Banks for Education.
If education is well funded, it will generate cumulative advantages which include the followings:
1. It will create employment for millions of Nigerians and other Nationals. It could be in teaching or research or even the Non-Academic categories.
2. It will generate Foreign Exchange from foreign students. And I think that is what our economy needs now. We can also make millions of dollars from our research efforts.
3. Publishing Outfits would not be left out as they receive strength through local patronage- For items like textbooks, exercise books, and stationeries among others.
4. Skilled labour shall be produced from these institutions for both local and international labour markets.
5. Other educational wares like Reagents, Microscope and other shall be in demand by these institutions leading to increased GDP.
The advantages of funding education are so numerous globally. That is why I want Nigeria to be counted.
And this bring to mind the issue of quality education. The Department of Quality Assurance in the Federal and State Ministries of Education should be properly funded and monitored to ensure quality education that will meet national and international standards.
The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria should do the needful in this wise.
We should begin to celebrate Proprietors of Private institutions across the nation. I think they deserve National Merit awards.
Comrade Ajibade Augustine is the
National Secretary, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, Nigeria, Abuja.