PARTNERING IN EDUCATING THE NIGERIAN CHILD

BY Professor Akin Oyebode

Introduction 

It is a common saying that in Africa, it takes an entire village to educate a child. We seem to have moved away somewhat from what used to be the mores of the village. Instead of a loving, caring attitude, we are now fully enmeshed in a dog-eat-dog, beggar-thy-neighbour, social darwinistic existence of armed robbers, kidnappers and area boys where life has become only slightly better than the hobbesian state of nature. We seem to be erecting a society on a foundation of fear, greed and pain, a society of everyone for himself and herself while the Devil seizes the hindermost. An incipient class struggle is manifesting before our very eyes with cataclysmic consequences for both ourselves and our children. 

It is in this conjuncture that we are being called upon today to contemplate the upbringing of our children. For those here gathered who have been entrusted with providing a beginning for our younger ones, no task could be more daunting, awesome or demanding. In our present circumstance, where parents have all but abandoned their responsibilities to minders in kindergarten and nurseries and teachers in the primary and secondary schools, professional tutors have their work well cut out for them.

Education in the Scheme of Things 

Most of us are what we are today, thanks to the benevolence of Providence and the education we had. Anyone who went to school in colonial times and the immediate years after our political independence would confirm the high quality of teachers then and the commitment and enterprise that attended pedagogy in those days. 

Although it is a truism that education remains one of the critical factors that determine the quality if life in any society, it is sad but true that the apprehension of this fact by the powers-that-be seems to be waning. A society that can afford teachers’ strikes for more than 24 hours definitely cannot be considered as placing the right premium on education. An inspection of the facilities existing in many of our public schools would readily confirm that education is not one of the topmost priorities of most of our governments. The disillusionment that pervades our schools, teachers and pupils attests to the fact that pretty little learning is going on. 

Our schools have since become a microcosm of the larger society. The quest for short-cuts to success, wealth and achievement has already percolated to the schools where a penchant for lack of seriousness, cheating, internet scams, prostitution and all manner of malfeasance have displaced the good old, yeoman values that informed the upbringing of the older generation. No doubt about it, education today is at a cross-roads and all stakeholders must come together to elaborate a rescue programme. However, in attempting to do this, it becomes apposite to re-consider prevalent notions concerning who does what and when in the enterprise of rearing the next generation. 

Responsibility for the Education of the Nigerian Child 

One of the current controversies in the country relates to the question of who bears responsibility for the education of our children. Is it parents or should it be the government ? Ordinarily, most people would insist on the pre-eminence of parents in charting the destiny of their children, especially in deciding the type of education they should have more so, as they normally bear the cost arising thereof. This is what has given rise to the ubiquitous parents – teachers associations. 

However, it is not that simple. In many countries of the world, education is considered too critical to be left alone to parents and the educators. Governments seized of their obligation under international law to provide education to pupils, not only make requisite appropriations for running the schools, they also seek to influence what is taught and how schooling is conducted generally in light of the age-old notion of the payer calling the tune. The insistence by governments to exercise control on the content and thrust of education is perceived by many parents as an unwarranted intrusion into their freedom to determine the education of their children.

It should be noted, though, that policy-making with regard to education is, inevitably, tied to the dominant ideology in society as espoused by the ruling class. Thus, a society enamoured of laissez-faire, free enterprise capitalism would, more often than not, favour minimal role for government in areas like education in tandem with the canons of individual utilitarianism. On the other hand, the history of centrally-planned economies founded on ideals of social utilitarianism has revealed the heavy hand of government in the daily lives of the citizens, particularly, in relation to the education of the younger ones in a bid to protect the status quo and save children from the influence of what was considered hostile, anti-socialist doctrines and propaganda. 

In environments practising the mixed economy (which some wiseacre one described as actually more mixed up that mixed !), it is an unending battle to determine the limits of state action within the free marketplace of ideas.

It is being suggested that while parents might be free to go heaven the way they want, some would argue that they should not be allowed to drag along their kids and wards. More conservative view points would even insist that nature had ordained parents with the right, if not indeed, power to inflict their value preferences on their children. 

Nigeria is still debating on who should be responsible for the education of its children. While the rich and highly heeled are in favour of private and generally elitist schools, the poor are condemned to send their wards to rickety, ill-provided schools, thereby laying the foundation, wittingly or unwittingly, for an antagonistic, class-based society, with all the deleterious consequences that that portends for the country. 

While the jury is still out regarding the propriety of Nigeria’s policy (or lack of it) on education, we should, perhaps, say a few words concerning education as a right, especially in light of the critical role which education plays in the scheme of things. 

The Right to Education and the Nigerian State 

Admittedly, the Abdulsalaam Constitution mouths some platitude regarding Nigerians’ right to education but if the truth is to be told, what Nigeria offers is a privilege and not a right. The Nigerian elite feel scandalized by the idea of their children sitting side by side with the children of their servants and chauffeurs and the hoi polloi generally and would rather maintain and uphold the existing apartheid in the Nigerian education sector. Whatever the constitution might say on the matter, education, and I mean, quality education carries a prohibitive price tag in contemporary Nigeria which only the very few, highly-heeled are in a position to afford. 

Whereas everyone knows that enhancement of human capital development is the key to most of the malaise afflicting Nigeria, the powers-that-be are unwilling to put their money where their mouths are, that is to say, put more stock on the war against ignorance and encourage production of the requisite manpower that can drive society and effect socio-economic and political transformation of the country. They believe that only their wards should be equipped with the ability to cope with the strains and stresses of life in the 21^st century which only the right type of education can provide. 

It is, of course, true that Nigeria is party to the International Covenant on Social Economic and Cultural Rights, Art.13 of which stipulates the right of citizens to education. However, without taking necessary measures to implement this international obligation, that right would remain merely a good point on paper. Besides, a generally ignorant and docile people like Nigerians are unable and unwilling to effect much-needed mass action and demand implementation of internationally guaranteed rights that would remove the masses from the quagmire of poverty, ignorance and disease. Nevertheless, it needs be stated quite clearly that except and unless and only to the extent that a conscientization takes place among Nigerians, the government would continue to ride them like horses. 

The Nigerian Community and the Difficulty of Shared Values 

The theme of today’s conference pre-supposes a commonality of values among Nigerians, especially with regard to the education of the Nigerian child. However, as earlier observed, the contemporary Nigerian society is not on the same page in relation to the fundamental issues of the day, not least, education. While some parents might be pontificating on issues such as shared cost, mid-day meals, vacation coaching or foreign excursions, those condemned to exist on the other side of the social divide worry more about where their next meal would come from or how to pay the rent. In the current situation of two nations of the rich and the poor existing side by side, it is mere wishful thinking to envisage a unanimity of views on the education of the Nigerian child. 

To the extent that education is the process of transmitting the values of one generation to another, to that extent can one say that contemplation of education in Nigeria today has become an arid exercise borne of futility and frustration. Yet, without education, the future is bleak. 

So, what is to be done ? 

It seems to me that there is a need for all stakeholders to converge at a national conference on the state of affairs in the education sector with a view to developing a sustainable road map that can extricate Nigeria from its present sorry pass. All the stakeholders-parents, guardians, scholars, teachers, proprietors, men and women of goodwill and noble spirit- must come together at such a forum to contemplate the pitiable condition of the education of Nigerian youth and prescribe viable solutions to the problems ravaging the upbringing of our young ones. If the example of your conference can be translated into the national platform being suggested in order to ventilate perceived grievances regarding the education of our children, then all your efforts in organizing this colloquium would not have totally been in vain. 

I thank you for your attention.

Robot  # 1 | 27.10.2009 07:49

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