EKITI State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has decried what he called the parlous state of the educational sector in the state and regretted that a State that was known for its educational prowess has slid backward considering the performance of students in national examinationsFayemi who spoke yesterday while declaring open a 2-day education summit in Adetiloye hall, Ado Ekiti tagged, Enhancing functional and sustainable education, said his administration is deeply concerned about the state of our education system and is determined to leave no stone unturned in effecting a major turnaround in the sector as a catalyst for a much desired transformation of our land.He said his government has taken a bold step in reshaping the sector in the State through abolition of tuition fees at the Primary and Secondary levels and reduction of tuition fees in University of Ado Ekiti (UNAD) and College of Education, Ikere Ekiti.Fayemi also informed the gathering which included former Executive Secretary of National University Commission (NUC) Prof. Peter Okebukola, Prof. Sam Aluko and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ado Ekiti Prof Akin Oyebode that his government is also partnering the World Bank, UNESCO and notable national and International Agencies to tackle problems bedevilling the education sector in the State for Ekiti to be in its pride of place.According to Fayemi,Upon assumption of office, I set up a fifteen-member panel on education to unravel the problems militating against the sector. It was at this point that I knew that inadequate funding, poor teaching methodology, infrastructural decay, low morale among the teachers and many others were responsible for the students failure in national examinations..We want to return Ekiti back to the good old days when competition in the education sector was the order of the day, Fayemi said.Speaking at the Summit, a renowned economist Prof Aluko hinged the decayed and abysmal performances of students in National examinations in the country on the privatization of the education sector as advised by international organizations.Aluko said the Nigerian government at all levels erred in hearkening to the advice of the international Agencies over the outright privatization of the education sector and considered the incessant industrial strike being witnessed in Nigerian Schools as a factor to tackle for the sector to regain its lost glories.In his key note address at the gathering, Prof Akin Oyebode regretted that no Nigerian University was ranked among the best two hundred across the world due to indiscipline and immorality at all levels.Oyebode commended Fayemi for the initiative, saying the Summit will help the relevant stakeholders and eggheads in the education sector to reconfigure and resuscitate the dwindling fortunes of education in the state.Aluko, a Professor of Economics and former University Teacher posited that it was wrong for the government to have committed a pivotal sector like education in the hands of the private bodies, which he said supposed to rely on stiff competitions from public schools.He said the privatization policy had constituted a serious menace in the academic attainment of the students, hence, the failure being recorded in West Africa Examinations Council and other National and international examinations in the country.Aluko specifically expressed disenchantment at the poor performances of the State in various examinations being undertaken by students , saying the State has produced the best brains in all fields in the country and that it is necessary to keep the flag flyingAccording to him, From primary to degree levels, indiscipline, immorality and strike has crippled the education sector.said you are privatizing, where are the committed private investors in the education sector today in this countryIf you train Engineer and he has no job to do, you are indirectly training an armed robber, because he knows how to use the tools to open your doors in the night.So, to me, it is better not to train the students at all than to train them and allow them to remain jobless .Maintaining that education takes pre-eminence in the scheme of things in any nation, Oyebode said that, It was regrettable that no Nigerian University was ranked among the best two hundred in the world . Even in Africa, the best Nigerian University was ranked 34, so that is how bad the situation is.That is why I commend Governor Kayode Fayemi for this Summit. It will enable us the opportunity to reconfigure and revamp the collapsed education sector , especially in this our dear State that is widely respected for its academic attainment, Oyebode said.
Click here to read full news..
