allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Unity Schools Old Students Hold Congress in Lagos (Page 1 of 2)

Come April 5, what may perhaps be the largest gathering of people who attended Federal Government Colleges and Federal Government Girls' Colleges, nationwide (unity colleges) will hold in Lagos. It is being hosted by the old students of Federal Government College, Ilorin and other unity colleges in the South West, under the umbrella of the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA), otherwise known as the Pro Unitate Forum.

The National Congresses began in Calabar last month and are expected to also be held in Abuja (in May), Enugu (July), Maiduguri (September) and Sokoto in November.

The theme of the 'Lagos Plenary', as it is called, is 'The Unity School Concept as a model for Secondary School Education in Nigeria'. It would feature lectures by distinguished personalities at the Nigerian Law School at 10.00am, followed by a novelty football match at the King's College Annex in the afternoon and a dinner at the Lagoon Restaurant at 7.00pm.

At a pre-plenary luncheon, organised in Lagos, the Forum called on the private sector to create a sustainable funding platform that would enable it develop the infrastructure of unity schools, resuscitate its academic excellence, as well as promote values that would ultimately contribute to the continued unity of the country.

The President General, Mr. Albert Okumagba said the call became necessary as a result of the declined state of facilities in these schools, which he said does not justify the huge investment committed over the years. The Forum is therefore dedicated to promoting the development and advancement of public secondary education in the country, using the colleges as models of academic excellence.

These objectives the President General said, were aimed at turning these schools to model schools wherein standards are defined for other classes of secondary schools, be it public or private.

To achieve these objectives he added, USOSA's present executive committee has developed a seven-point agenda to: rekindle the vision of the founding fathers of the schools as centres of academic excellence, integration, leadership and national unity in Nigeria; review the corporate governance structures of unity schools, aimed at providing sound and best-of-breed administrative leadership in the schools; mobilise the private sector to play a more involved role in the funding and administration of public education in Nigeria, as well as the funding of education initiatives, under a public/private sector partnership structure and attract policy makers from both the public and private sectors to review secondary school education in Nigeria, as well as proffer strategies that would enhance the growth and development of secondary education, as a foundation for sound academic, moral education and national economic development.

The association has also initiated several activities such as, organising a National Education Summit in conjunction with the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG); the formation of a group consisting 1, 000 eminent unity schools old students, who desire and are passionate about reforming the entire public education system in Nigeria; instituting an education think-tank group, made up of eminent educationists to fashion out a new policy direction on education (in an independent advisory capacity to the Federal Ministry of Education), among others.

Citing a report by the Federal Ministry of Education, prepared during the tenure of Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, on the current state of the Nigerian educational system, Okumagba said Nigeria has about 11,000 secondary schools, 6700 public and 3400 private. Of the 11,000 schools, 102 are unity schools. Most of which are confronted with several problems, ranging from inadequate physical infrastructure to funding and poor performance.

The report also stated that 98, 073 classrooms were currently available, while 32, 677 more are needed immediately. About 50 percent of available classrooms were considered to be in "good" condition, while only 42 percent of secondary schools had access to water and light.

According to him, students' academics performance was poor, 23.37 percent made credits in English Language and Mathematics across the federation, between 2000-2004. Also in 2005, only 23.1 percent of the students that sat for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) passed.

There was also the problem of inadequate number of teachers. Other problems identified in the report included, examination malpractice, alternate role models, value issues and dangerous trans-border media influences. Others were, internet crimes, student abuse, as well as corruption by administrators and teachers.

Okumagba added that the dysfunctional state of the education sector over the last two decades was a major cause of some socio-economic problems in the country.

"The unity schools were set up to promote the laudable objectives of educating young Nigerians from all over the country in a conducive atmosphere that would provide total education, entrench the values of national unity as well as promote the pursuit of excellence. However, over the years, unity schools have lost their pride of place and have constituted a drain on the resources of the Federal Ministry of Education", he said.

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