Editor’s note:
Recall that in our last edition of your favorite Akoko-Edo publication, we had commenced the first part in a triple series beginning with Ososo Grammar School, Ososo, in our promise to unveil the rot in what has become of our educational system, nay the facilities, across the length and breadth of the Council. This, we dare say, is in line with our mission to deploy this medium in drawing public as well as policy makers’ attentions to the dilapidated reality on ground, and thus chatting a pathway to resuscitating them in order to serve the onerous need of delivering quality education to our children and the generation next. Join us, as we continue in this edition with our focus on yet another prominent school in the local government which was the pride of Igarra community and environs, but now a mere shadow of its former self.
In this three-part picture report, Akoko-Edo Community newspaper Editor, Albert Afeso Akanbi and Correspondent, Kehinde Ikoghene Favour, examine the prevailing condition of secondary schools in one of Nigeria’s largest and perhaps the oldest local government area, Akoko-Edo. Relying on information gathered from visit to three premier secondary schools in Ososo, Igarra and Ibillo respectively, this edition further unveils the current bitter-sweet story of secondary education in the local government.
Apart from serving as a link between primary and tertiary education, secondary schools provide opportunity for students to acquire additional knowledge, skills and traits beyond the primary level. One of such otherwise priced institutions of learning is the Anglican Grammar School, Igarra. Founded on January 24th 1956, the school is one of the oldest, and arguably the best secondary school in Akoko-Edo LGA.
In our visit, Mr. Momoh Rasheed, the school principal led us through a hall into his office that has served as the engine room of countless past administrators of this now sleeping-giant academic institution. Looking down at us from a set of portrait pictures hung on the wall, directly above the lintel, were faces of past principals, that are almost concealed in cobwebs and dust. Notable among these faces was the Rev. Canon M. A. Edeki, the very first principal of the school. One glance at his face, a reflective observer would immediately glimpse a kind of question and story, one that mirrors the journey that the secondary school, one that has produced some of the best minds to ever come out of Edo State, held. It is a sad story of perpetual neglect, of unheeded requests and appeals, of dashed hopes that has left the pupils in hopelessness, not sparing the growth of the community and the Council area, at large. A story that the school, like almost all the other schools in the local government area, is so familiar with…
The question of dilapidated infrastructure, lack of teachers, poor remuneration for the few ones in public schools employment, the absence of enthusiasm for learning, especially of science subjects, which many secondary schools in Nigeria are so familiar with today, a thing that has been made worse by dwindling Teacher’s Training Colleges in Edo State, is one that has fueled suspicion in some quarters, of a sort of conspiracy to deliberately kill public education system in Nigeria, to give way to private ones.
For a truth, even among the very few and poorly remunerated government teachers in our secondary schools today, not a handful are willing to travel far away from their locality on teaching expedition. Even at that, how many of such teachers maintain focus solely on the teaching profession, and discharge their duties with the same passion as, let us say bankers, to their job? For teachers who do not have side businesses, farming has thus become a major preoccupation, leaving the main occupation of teaching as mere side job.
A stakeholder in the region who prefers anonymity, lay the blame for what secondary schools in the area has become today, squarely at the feet of the government. He argued that some private schools are relatively cheaper when one considers cost per benefit. Conceding that the business factor cannot be eliminated in the running of private schools, he argued that if the government spends as much as 25% of what the private schools spend on the average, per enrolled student in public schools, the decay in the secondary educational system could be a thing of the past.
His argument brings a few questions to the fore. Why would a government school with an adequate number of enrolled students, have just two, and in some instances like the case of Ososo Grammar School, just one teacher- despite the fact that for years, the same school have been making reports and appeals to government, for the recruitment of more teachers? Why would any government ignore such appeals in the face of availability of capable hands amidst a horde of trained but jobless teachers, and instead rely on the various Alumni Associations of different sets, for the employment of teachers on government’s behalf, as the case is in Saint Paul Anglican Grammar school? Are we here faced with the unsubstantiated rumors that it is all a conspiracy, a huge racket of ghost teachers “to whom the powers that be are channeling the salaries meant for teachers?”
The Principal, Mr. Rasheed, while dispelling such rumors, however showered profound appreciation for the school’s Alumni Association which, according to him, were largely responsible for his continued stay in the school as principal. Of the very few teachers that were now in the employ of the school, like most schools in the LGA, the Principal credits the association for the payment of their salaries.
Despite insisting that Saint Paul Anglican Grammar school still remains the best school in the area in terms of infrastructural development, the principal however decried the many challenges they are facing, one of which he laments was the chronic deficit of teachers. He displayed the time book which indicated sadly, very poor entries. He appealed passionately for the recruitment of more teachers, equipment for the science Lab and for perimeter fencing to be constructed around the school, among other things.
While bemoaning what he called the rise in quick-fix money making ventures otherwise referred to as ‘Yahoo Yahoo’ prevalence in the country, the Principal however praised the students for their attitude towards study, a thing we confirmed. Despite the absence of teachers, our team noticed that the students were well behaved, with no loitering and truancy. According to the School’s Science teacher Mr. Rufus Thaddeus, he was quite enamored with the current students’ high enthusiasm for learning science subjects. To this end, both Principal and his Vice Principal agreed that education is still remains the best legacy and as such, the government and parents should make conscious efforts to revive secondary education in the area, and Nigeria in general.
Hon Robert Akande, another stakeholder in the area suggests the adaptation and domestication of national basic education curriculum, policies and strategies to suit the specifics of Edo State and its development goals and objectives. He insisted that this, as well as better funding for public schools, is the only solution to the problem.
Some of the students we spoke to re-echoed the appeal of the principal, which is for more teachers and teaching materials. As we rounded up our visit to the school, we were convinced that the time for the government and the people to take the appeal of these students serious is now because, like leaders at all level today, it is from this pool of students that the leaders of tomorrow will be fashioned. It is through them we hope to realize our dreams which is summarized in the school’s dictum; “Ad Astra, Per Aspera”…through hardship to the stars…
Part three and the final part of this report would focus on the more recommendation for uplifting secondary schools in the area, using the major secondary school in Ibillo as case study.
Albert Afeso Akanbi and Kehinde Ikoghene Favour are with Akoko-Edo Community newspaper.
