Alaafin urges involvement of private school proprietors in education policy development

WORRIED by the standard of education in Nigeria and the mass failure of students in public examinations, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, has advised government at all levels to incorporate proprietors of private schools in education policy formulation to reverse the ugly trend.The monarch gave the advice in Ibadan recently, in view of the better performances being recorded by students in many privately-run schools as against the appalling records in public schools.The Alaafin gave the advice while commissioning a hall and library built and named after him by the proprietor of Atorise Comprehensive College, on Olounda Aba in Ibadan, in recognition of his ardent support for education and acquisition of knowledge.He identified the major factors responsible for fall in standard of education in many government-run public schools to include; sharp drop in disciplinary measures, insufficient infrastructural facilities and dearth of moral values expected to be instilled on students by teachers, whose morale has fallen because of late salary payment or non payment at all for months, among others."Available statistics has confirmed that students of well managed private schools perform better in public examinations, thus lending credence to the need for people to invest more in education.In his words, the Alaafin said, "fall in standard of education cannot be said of private institutions but basically peculiar to public and particularly, government schools."The government should look inwards and conduct a thorough research into factors responsible for the alarming trend. Performances in examinations at privately-run schools are sterling and the products of such schools are having upper hands in public examinations like the JAMB, UTME, SSCE, NECO and so on," he said.To the government, therefore, Oba Adeyemi had the advice that, "they should set up a panel to investigate why so much variance exists between performances in students of private and public schools. If government schools are satisfying the aspirations of the people, they will not be taking their chidren to private schools."Government should therefore, borrow a leaf from how private school operators are doing it such that their products excel and have good grades. For instance, they have a standard they set for themselves in private schools before any student can sit for any examinations. In public schools, these regulatory standards are virtually ignored, reason for its deplorable state," Alaafin said.
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