Sir: “When two elephants fight, the grass is miserable”. This, over the years, has resulted in many disadvantaged students in state universities who cannot afford tuition fees in private universities, let alone travel abroad for education, but accept their fate in public schools. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with attending a public school except for some shortcomings and extremism. The most famous among them is the strike action that is always carried out in every election year by the umbrella of lecturers; Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that makes public schools look not serious. Going through the litany of demands of ASUU, all the same, the demand is germane because there is no investment in education that is superfluous, but it is characterized by a traitorous lacuna.
To begin with, the country’s total 2022 budget stands at N17.13 trillion out of which N923.79 billion is allocated to the education sector. Interestingly, ASUU is made up of intellectuals who know and teach about checks and balances. Currently, in the Nigerian education sector, there are four levels of education, namely: i) PAUD (pre-primary); ii) Basic Education (9 years) – including Basic Education and Junior High School, which are compulsory and free; iii) Higher Secondary Education; and iv) Higher Education. In higher education, there are three categories, namely; universities, colleges of education and polytechnics.
According to the above categorization, the annual budget for education should be divided fairly to take care of these four levels. And with the ‘compulsory and free’ clause on basic education, more funds should be allocated to implement the policy effectively. Of course, with prudence and precedence, investing in the first three levels is very critical because they are the pillars for a good tertiary education, the fourth. So, while all levels are important, basic education needs additional attention, and cannot be ignored.
Education is only one of the many sectors that demand critical attention from the treasury, therefore, expanding preferences based on priorities remains the only option vis-à-vis scarce resources. Thus, ASUU must first consider the aggregate state budget, then the allocation to the ministry of education, before higher education institutions that belong to the other two categories. Understanding this template will provide insight and create actionable agreements for sustainable activities.
Public school strikes do more harm than good to society, and should be vetoed. It should be discouraged. For example, when academic activities finally resume after a long strike, there is a chance that the program will crash and demoralize, thus leaving room for deficiencies. In the end, society suffers. It is unacceptable to destroy society in any guise. Strictly speaking, public schools should not be used for power struggles, because in the world, no school anywhere has everything in the field, and everyone who gets to the top is through long-term planning, not hostility.
• Carl Umegboro, ACIArb, is a public affairs analyst and social advocate (08023184542-SMS only)