Knocks, lamentations and disgruntled reactions have trailed the performance of the education sector in the assessments of concerned stakeholders in the sector.
They observed that unaddressed alarming rate of out-of-school children in the country coupled with the disruption of academic activities as a result of ongoing strike by the Academic State Union of Universities (ASUU) have made the sector worse off, given the nature of it neglect occasioned by the uncertainty that trailed key government decisions in the year under review.
According to them, ASUU strike for the umpteen times has altered the academic calendar of schools, which will affect students learning in public tertiary institutions.
Given the kind of response that emanated from parents, students and education experts that bared their minds to BusinessDay, it is obvious from their appraisal of the performance of the educational sector that more policy direction is urgently required from the government in term of encouraging not only educational development but also the nation as a whole.
Majority of the respondents were of the opinion that a state of emergency should be declared on education, if we are to keep tab with the growing education community globally.
Ejike Uchechukwu, a concerned parent in his assessment of the sector in the year under review, points out that any country that neglects the power of knowledge and information that comes from educational activities set itself back big time.
According to Uchechukwu, “Any country that does not pay attention to the educational needs of her youths is likely to face a difficult times in the future,” adding that the situation Nigeria educational sector is in at the moment is a case in point.
Uchechukwu further advocates that the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, ably assisted by the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, should seriously look into education because the development of Nigeria depends on the technical knowhow of it youths who represent a larger percent of the Nigerian population.
Emmanuel Ibukun, an educationist, laments that the sector has not fare any better in the last 365 days, questioning the reason behind the continued neglect of a vital sector like education by the government, especially in resolving the lingering ASUU strike.
In his view, the issue of education should rank among the first in the scale of preference of this present government if it were to regain it pride of place in the country, calling on the Buhari-led administration to set the ball rolling through the implementation of an education friendly policy.
Similarly, Nkeiruka Chimezie, a parent who is disgruntled with the plight the sector is facing, says successive governments neglect of the sector has pose serious danger to Nigeria.
According to Chimezie, “The life wire of any country lies in her youths, one wonders what will become of any nation where her youths are deprived of a basic right like education, and the outcome is better imagined than said.”
She calls on government and its agencies to as a matter of priority implement policy that is in line with the developmental objective that education in the country deserves.
