• In Kogi, pupils study under trees or sit on bare floor on few days school holds as teachers prefer going to farm
From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
Yusuf Ojodale, a 10-year-old primary school pupil, had refused to go back to school. His father, a peasant farmer, who could not afford to send to private school, had managed to take him to the only public school in the community – Local Government Education Authority Primary School Acharu- Egume.
Yusuf dropped out in primary three because for the three years he spent in the school, there was neither chair nor table to sit or write on. Pupils sat on bare floor to receive lessons that seldom held. Yusuf is now a happy farmer.
The now deplorable school established about 20 years ago with over 100 pupils has only about three to five visible teachers who teach the pupils from primary one to six. And some attend classes between three and times per term because the teachers prefer going to farm.
Yusuf is just one out of hundreds of pupils that have dropped out of school as most public primary and secondary schools in Kogi State are indeed eye sores with deplorable structures, poor learning environment and non available manpower.
At Universal Basic Education Secondary School, Iziho, popularly known as Magajiya, a community about 20 kilometers to the state capital, the scenario is worst. Students take lessons under trees as the roofs of some of the classrooms have been damaged by rain storm while those who are lucky to be in the classrooms, sit on the bare floor to receive lessons.
This is the same situation at some schools such as LGEA Primary School, Agala Ogane; LGEA Primary School, Ofagba both in Dekina local government area; LGEA Primary School, Ofere in Kabba Bunu local government area and dozens of school affected in the three senatorial districts of the state.
The alarming security situation in the state has also worsened the condition in some communities, which have completely closed down their primary schools.
The deplorable condition of public schools in the state made the Catholic Bishop of Idah Diocese, Bishop Anthony Ademu Adaji, to lambast the Kogi State government recently, saying inspite of the huge monthly allocations coming to the state, students and pupils are still sitting on the bare floors to take lessons and write examinations.
The Bishop lamented that less than 10 per cent of public schools are functioning in the state and challenged Governor Usman Ododo to wake up to his responsibilities. He said: “On a very serious note, you can not get five per cent functional public schools in Kogi East, yet billions of naira are being budgeted for education year in, year out. In the last eight or nine years, it has been a total shamble in the area of education in rural communities in Kogi State.
“Kogi State government should stop deceiving itself by using the public schools in the state capital to judge the condition of schools in the local government areas. Our concern is that the larger population of the people in Kogi State dwell in the rural areas and, regrettably, such places their educational system, especially secondary and primary schools are in a precarious situation at the detriment of the children whom we claimed are leaders of tomorrow.
“If you visit some government schools both secondary and primary schools in Kogi East, if you are a lover of education and you know what education can do to humanity, you will weep. Therefore, Gov. Ododo should do the needful before it is too late.
“I am appealing to Gov. Ododo that as he has started the goodwill of paying regular salaries to both state and local government area workers, he should also include education and infrastructure as part of the mandate of his responsibility as both are necessary for the development of Kogi State.”
Also speaking with our correspondent, a 72- year-old headmaster, Pa Kayode Jaiyeoba, lamented how the state government has gradually killed primary education in the state, saying the future of our children are in serious jeopardy as the government is merely paying lip service to primary schools.
His words: “It is so sad that for the past 10 years, no single Kobo has been allocated to renovate or provide facilities to the primary schools in Kogi State. All the money in the budget end up in private pockets. Our politicians are busy playing politics with the destinies of our children.
“Primary school teachers and pensioners are still being owed, the one they claimed they are paying now is still old scheme; no primary school teacher is taking the current minimum wage. Some big schools in the state have only five teachers as government refused to employ yet Gov. Ododo has appointed over 2,000 aides, paying them millions of naira while teachers and pensioners are wallowing in poverty.”
When contacted, the state commissioner of education, Wemi Jones, said the state government was trying its best to give quality education to its citizens. He said most of the problems mentioned were long time inherited from previous governments.
He said the issue of primary schools in the state was basically under the control of the the federal government’s Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), which deals directly with the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and that the ministry of education has little or no say in their affairs.
He also said that most of the primary/ secondary schools affected in the state were established by missions and communities and were only grant-aided by the state government, stressing that some communities rushed to build schools without consideration how to provide infrastructure or how to maintain the infrastructure provided.
The commissioner said the state government will, however, take stock of all the problems confronting public schools and assured that Gov. Ododo was more than ready to salvage the situation.