The Nigerian Academy of Education (NAE) has urged President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the education sector to address the system’s rot and decadence.
Additionally, the Academy encouraged the federal government to cease operating secondary schools and, as a result, turn over all 115 federal government colleges to the states under strict guidelines.
In his welcome address at the 38th Annual Congress, 2024, which will take place in Abuja from November 5–8, with the topic “Nigerian Education System: Past, Present & Future,” NAE President Professor Kabiru Isyaku made the plea on Wednesday.
Isyaku bemoaned the terrible condition of education in Nigeria and said that since it impacts every other area of the country’s economy, an emergency in the field is necessary.
He stated that the National Policy on Education was last revised more than ten years ago, and that declaring an emergency would allow the government to address crucial issues such as the place of education in the Constitution, structure, funding, and the relevance of the current curriculum.
The professor branded the Federal Government’s operation of primary and secondary schools as an abnormality, claiming that this does not occur anyplace else in the world.
He said: “The Federal Government, at this stage of the country’s development, should not directly run Secondary Schools. Instead, FGN should only be in charge of Policy and Quality Assurance.
“Thus, all Federal Government Colleges should be devolved to the states with comprehensive conditions”
Isyaku called for adequate remuneration of personnel in educational institutions while ensuring the release of their salaries and other entitlements as and when due.
