Uchechukwu Nnaike
2 December 2008
Lagos — The Federal Government has been advised to set up a committee that would determine the equivalence between different levels of education in both the formal and non-formal systems to enable an easy movement from one form to the other.
A lecturer at the Department of Education, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Dr. Abubakar Bagudo said this in a lecture, 'Integrating Non-formal Education into Formal Education Sector', delivered at the 13th Plenary Session of the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) in Sokoto.
He said recipients of adult literacy should be issued certificates to indicate what level of formal education they attained and such certificates should be current in the world of work and for admission into the formal schooling system. "The most important motive of this proposal is to secure closer integration between the formal and non-formal systems of education."
He stressed the need for primary and secondary schools to be made flexible enough for pupils who dropped out for one reason or another, to rejoin the system at the level of his/her present experience and ability.
According to him, the non-formal education, despite its contributions to skill acquisition and the preparation it provided for the world of work, remained disintegrated with the formal system. The problem with formal education, he said, was that it was regarded as a complete entity by itself and lacked continuity with non-formal and formal activities.
Bagudo said the deficiency of the formal education system in skill acquisition and other competencies were complemented by the non-formal sector, which was poorly funded, largely neglected and remained un-integrated with the formal system.
As a means of integrating both systems, he suggested that primary and secondary schools
should identify more closely with the community, so that all the human and material resources of the community would become educational resources for the students.
He also stressed the need for government to organise competent and reputable roadside mechanics, masons and carpenters around schools, so that the master craftsman could teach their trade to children, bring the school to the community and the world of their work into the school.
The lecturer urged the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to administer its entrance examinations to all who have attempted any type of secondary education.
This, he said would enable those who failed the West African School Certificate to have a second chance, rather than being relegated to menial jobs, as social failures.
The educational system, he said should be made flexible so that students could transfer from one section of higher education to another. "By this, students in polytechnics, colleges of education can enter universities at the appropriate level of their educational standards. Holders of Higher National Diploma can be afforded one or two years of theory to turn them into graduates engineers, architects, town planners, etc, a status which is presently being denied by the professional bodies. The sole principle is that there should be transferability from one section of the educational set-up to the other without prejudice."
He said, "until we begin to look at the educational scene as a whole unit and carry out reforms of parts within the rationale and context of the whole, our education system will remain a jig saw whose bits and pieces hang somewhere in the air."
Chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Bello Maccido commended members of USOSA for organising the event to discuss issues that affect the unity schools and for striving to keep the visions of the founding fathers of unity schools alive.
The President, Mr. Albert Okumagba said the event was the last of such events this year and that the association held a plenary in each of the six geo-political zones. He said Federal Government colleges located in host cities were visited and that this provided the association privilege of first hand information on the state of affairs in these schools.
According to him, the general decay in the physical infrastructures, sub-standard feeding, epileptic electricity and water supply showed the extent of neglect the unity schools suffered over the years, despite the increased revenue accruing to the Federal Government.
While urging alumni of each school to initiate programmes of action for their school's renovation, Okumagba said subsequent plenary would hold in the premises of host schools for members to see what the situation was like.
He reiterated the association's resolve to partner with the government in all issues that relate to the management of unity schools, the general upliftment of secondary education and the attainment of the country's development agenda.
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