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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Since its creation 26 years ago, Bayelsa State has had a bumpy ride to attain the status of an educationally endowed state. Operating without a tangible education road map that would serve the only homogenous state in Nigeria, Bayelsa has been left to flounder.
While it is true that it has been able to shake off the toga of an educationally-disadvantaged state, there is still much to be done to attain the desired education greatness.
With 195 public secondary schools and over 85,000 students enrolled, 547 public primary schools with over 120,000 enrolment, three universities, one college of education and one polytechnic, there are still grounds to cover in the areas of quality teachers, enduring infrastructure, hi-tech teaching and learning equipment as well as visionary education administrators itching for education reform in the state.
The challenges facing education in Bayelsa and how to tackle them on a long-term basis was the fulcrum of the first education summit in the state, with the theme “Optimising the delivery, performance and sustainability of outcomes in the education sector,” aimed at forging “an all-embracing education summit towards a 15-year plan and a domesticated state policy for sustainable, rapid and improved education delivery and development.”
The summit captured succinctly the concerns of the education sector in Bayelsa: “Over the years, it had been frustrating, curious and of utmost concern that despite government’s efforts, educational managerial/administrative practices and processes had often been faulty, skewed and lopsided, fluid and elusive because they are largely left with individual practitioner’s capacity, instincts, perceptions and political inclinations/ patronage, which made a unified and streamlined modus-operandi difficult.
“The main reason for these aberrations is the absence of a solution-driven domesticated blueprint and policy to serve as a reference point for conducting operational practices that would stand the test of time, and to avoid the setting in of the law of inertia.”
Commissioner for Education, Dr. Gentle Epilefa Emelah, said 40 experts, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, who was the keynote speaker, were drawn from the education sector to help the state in its quest for a road map. He said there was no longer need for the state to ignore the challenges facing it: “This summit was conceived for the proper development of education in the state so as to build a better future for Bayelsans. This summit is important because we cannot pretend anymore about the daunting challenges confronting our education environment. If we must achieve our expectations for our children, then we must discuss and proffer workable strategies to tackle the problems.”
The pioneer vice-chancellor, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, and former Minister of Science and Technology, now chairman, Bayelsa State Education Trust Fund, Prof. Turner Timinipre Isoun, expressed delight at the steps taken by successive administrations in tackling the issues revolving around education “through the establishment of various institutions and programmes, including the establishment of the Educational Development Trust Fund to address funding gaps and intervene in critical areas in the educational system.”
He reeled out ways the fund has intervened in Bayelsa’s education sector, ranging from feeding of over 4,000 students at 11 modern boarding schools to training of teachers for children with special needs, to building computer-based testing centres and science laboratories, he said: “The education fund is committed to ensure it fulfils its mission by intervening in the education sector.”
Executive secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Kesiye Wabote, represented by manager, corporate communications, Mr. Esueme Dan Kikile, said: “The board is poised to engage the Bayelsa State government and assist in providing concise implementable education plan and establish a blueprint for infrastructure and funding support, which would improve critical educational development in the state.
“The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education across the world. This triggered the need to develop appropriate innovative solutions to deliver learning resources virtually. Building ICT centres in schools in Nembe, Okpoama, Otuoke, Okaka and Swali are ways NCDMB has ensured Bayelsans are not left behind.”
Jonathan stressed the importance of education to the development of the society and expressed optimism that the resolutions of the summit would be backed by law in the interest of Bayelsans: “For you to change society it must be through education. I hope after this summit, there must be a technical committee that would put everything together to develop a clear programme for the state in the next 15 years.
“My vision of philosophy of development is that to develop a people must be based on education. And if you don’t give them functional education, you can never expect a functional society. If you go to where you have functional education, if you see where they build houses you would know that these people are educated. For us to change Bayelsa State and Nigeria, education is key.”
Governor Douye Diri explained: “This is the first time the state will gather people together to fashion out a roadmap for the state. The power of education cannot be downplayed.
“At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state was handicapped to deliver remote learning to far flung areas due to non-availability of equipment and facilities. It is imperative to look at education holistically.
“However, because of the critical nature of this summit, this summit is going to fashion out the education needs of our state. This summit would look at almost all the sectors that encompass education. And if we agree to move forward after this summit, the critical aspect again would be implementation of what would come out of this summit. More importantly, what would come out of this summit both within us and outside us as a state is the 15-year’s development plan”
One of the lead speakers, Prof Comfort Zuofa, Niger Delta University, in a her paper: Towards a common good: “Rethinking Education in Bayelsa State for Optimal Development”, noted: “Education is a fundamental human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human instruments.
“It is the duty of the Bayelsa State Government to ensure that access is unrestricted. However, those children are still denied education in Bayelsa State.
“It has been observed that various factors such as culture, economic and social issues as well as government ineffective implementation of policies were some of the reasons millions of individuals including children are denied access to education in Nigeria and specifically Bayelsa State despite her enormous contributions in nation building and development.”
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Niger Delta University, Prof Allen Agih, in his paper, “Administration of Primary and Secondary Schools in Bayelsa”, recommended the SWOT approach in the operations of schools to have a sustainable development of primary and secondary education in the state.
Mon Nwadiani, Professor of Education Planning and former Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Benin (UNIBEN) in his paper, “Funding and Financing Education: Issues, Problems, Challenges and Prospects and the Way Forward for Bayelsa State”, harped on the need for funding of education:
“Bayelsa is one of the biggest oil producing states in Nigeria. Yet its educational system locale is not backward but slow paced in its growth and development. Funding has been implicated as one of the forces against the effective provision and delivery of education. Education in Bayelsa State like others is seriously underfunded with the attendant unintended and undesirable outcomes.”
