Our topic is a classical question that demands an answer. If we agree that the educational sector in Nigeria needs financial help then we have half answered the question because the identification of a need to do something is the primary call to take action.
The educational sector in Nigeria has suffered from a lot of financial neglect over the years and over the decades, the causes of this neglect range from poor financial allocation to the educational sector far below the accepted international standards. Another cause is the appointment of inexperienced and inefficient administrators in the educational sector over the years which in turn translated to poor and wrong policies and ideas lacking in depth and imagination, I will stop at this few.
The reality we have on ground is that our educational facilities are several years behind in terms of facilities, tools and infrastructure and there is an urgent and desperate need to find a solution by properly funding this sector, we have relentlessly kept the intellectual prowess to a manageable standard irrespective of the prevailing and daunting challenges. There is a call to action.
I will start by stating that every individual that has being educated, is being educated or has benefited from the influence of education on any individual definitely qualifies to provide financial aid to educational institutions, no educated person is exempted. We can start personally by giving our widow' s mite to our alma matter and the institutions that we passed through, it might not be awesome, it might not be staggering, we only need to do our best and leave the rest for other people, but we need to do something. Most times this efforts are coordinated by alumni associations or a particular graduating set who are properly organized.
The reality we have on ground is that by reason of the prevailing level of poverty in Nigeria, a lot of children can not afford basic education and would not get educated except we do something, those that can afford it are distracted by lack of current books and facilities for effective reading, this tend to make them wait till they can borrow books from those who can afford it or wait on a long queue to use the few good books available in the library, this definitely encourages cramming.
The second set of people that definitely qualify to offer financial help are corporate bodies and privately owned firms. This effort can be carried out as part of their Corporate social responsibility efforts, they can target specific needs of some public institutions and donate equipment, books and study aids in other to enhance the quality of teaching and the standard of learning. I understand that this efforts can also be channeled by the corporate bodies to serve as a tool for advertisements, publicity, marketing and branding in the targeted educational institutions. It is definitely capable of becoming a win-win situation for all concerned.
The third set of people that qualify and should aid the educational sector financially are religious organisations. Moral and ethical standards are disappearing at a great speed within our educational institutions and the help of the religious bodies are definitely required in this aspect. Religious bodies should not only be concerned about religious education or members of their congregation alone, but primarily about universal access to basic education. This effort would really help improve the moral standard of the society.
The last group I would talk about and which is the most vital is the different levels of government. The Southwestern part of Nigeria some decades ago was effectively funded in the educational sector that it made some states in Nigeria to be addressed as ' educationally disadvantaged'. This is the reality of the impact government can make in the educational sector. At a stage some years ago , the government in power declared compulsory and free education from the primary to the university level and this allowed a lot of families and entire villages to have access to quality education.
The Federal, State and Local governments can effectively fund educational institutions, give grants and scholarships to assist indigent students and. also ensure that all federal and state owned educational institutions are equipped with modern and state of the art aids for effective teaching and learning. This would be an encouragement to the teachers and lecturers and a drive for student to seek for and read the books provided.
This when effectively done will surely reduce cramming and increase regular and effective reading by students. The end result is an improved quality of teaching and higher standard and quality of graduate and products from these educational institutions. This is certainly a collective duty, the time to start is now, let us get started.
Thank you.
Writer: Tola Arawomo
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