A member of the Board of Governors, Thames Valley International College, Sagamu-Ikorodu Road, Ogun State, Mr. Babatunde Kolade, has said that the high number of children of school age outside the nation’s school system portends a grave danger for the nation.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, in a report released in March, this year, claimed that an estimated 61 million children of primary school age are being denied their right to education globally.
UNESCO claimed that 10.5 million of these children residents in Nigeria were denied access to basic education in the country.
But Kolade, speaking during the unveiling of the new private college on Wednesday, said children who fall into this category could become a burden to the society as they could be exposed to some kinds of training that would not be beneficial to the country.
He said, “It’s a grave danger to have one out of 10 of the country’s population out of school. This means the skills to be used in the future are being wasted. Then, who provides the needed skills and manpower, when this generation is gone?”
Underscoring the importance of education to national development, he called for cooperation between the government and the private sector.
Kolade, who said the college was a private initiative to support the government’s effort in providing qualitative education to the citizenry, added that it was unfortunate that the nation had no clear-cut philosophy on education, hence the inconsistency in policies.
“I am worried that the country has no philosophy on education. There is nobody that has come up to defend or present the nation’s education philosophy. Education development starts from the philosophy of the government on education.
“What kind of education do we need? Until the country develops a philosophy on education, we would not make progress, “ he noted.
Kolade described some investors in education services and founders of schools as Shylocks and opportunists, adding that they capitalise on the rot in the public school system.
Rather than compounding the educational challenges confronting the nation, such investors should partner with other stakeholders to move the sector forward, he noted.
He said that private investors in education had jointly invested over N500bn in secondary and tertiary education in the last 13 years.
Kolade, who said the college would take off in September with pupils in Junior Secondary School 1 and 2 and Senior Secondary School 1, emphasised constant training for teachers for them to be relevant and impact the pupils positively in their academics.
He said examination malpractice had continued to thrive because the government had not made anyone a scapegoat through prosecution.
“Examination malpractice has continued to thrive because the government has not used anyone as a scapegoat through prosecution of offenders caught in the act. This has emboldened some parents to involve themselves in such crime,” he noted.
The Ogun State commissioner for Education, Mr. Olusegun Odubela, who commended the governing board of the college for the provision of what he described as standard infrastructure including lecture theatres, sporting facilities, hostel accommodation, and Internet facilities, said the state government would support the school in every area needed.
He said the state government was already discussing with the Federal Government on the deplorable condition of Sagamu-Ikorodu Road, and if given approval, the state would commence reconstruction work on it.
