That Nigeria’s unity schools otherwise called Federal Government Colleges are living in past glory is not in doubt. In recent times, one scandal or the other has trailed their existence. The most current problem appears to be illegal levies and admission racketeering in some of these schools.
Media reports have it that some of these alleged illegal levies are imposed by the Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs). Some parents alleged that they were asked to pay religion levy, which is supposed to be optional. Some principals and teachers of these schools allegedly collect as high as N600,000 to give admission to a student. This is said to be more prevalent in Lagos where the pressure for admission is high.
In Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos, for instance, some concerned parents reportedly petitioned the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa. They complained about what they called persistent and unauthorized financial demands on them by the school’s PTA and management. The approved maximum PTA levy is said to be N12,000 per term for all unity colleges. But Queen’s College allegedly charges N21,500 per student. The PTA Chairman of the school, Oluwayomi Ojo, denied this though. He said it’s N19,000 and not N21,500.
Also, the parents alleged that they were made to pay salaries of PTA-employed teachers under the guise that the Federal Government does not supply enough teaching staff. They implored the Minister to intervene.
Undeniably, most of these unity schools are starved of funds and other necessary facilities for learning. Infrastructure is poor and teaching staff is inadequate. There is poor power supply and a decline in the quality of learning. Classrooms and hostels are overcrowded with limited facilities to take care of the increasing number of students.
This state of affairs might have been the cause of the recent outbreak of diphtheria in King’s College, Lagos. A number of students fell victims. One student reportedly died of the disease. Some others were hospitalized.
Students have also had to battle poor feeding and welfare in most of these schools. The Federal Government said recently that it’s investigating the quality of food given to these students. As a result, two principals were recalled on the matter. Director of Press in the Ministry of Education, Folasade Boriowo, said the ministry had initiated a nationwide assessment of all federal unity colleges to evaluate the quality of food and pastoral care provided to students.
These over 100 unity schools were meant to promote the unity of the country. Ironically, they have ended up bringing more divisions among the people of Nigeria. For instance, there is discriminatory cut-off marks for different states of the federation in common entrance exams.
While pupils from some states like Anambra need at least 130 marks out of 300 to gain admission, their counterparts from Zamfara only need to score two marks. In the 2022/2023 academic session, for instance, the cut-off mark for Anambra was 139; Abia, 130; Delta, 131. Conversely, the cut-off mark for Adamawa was 62; Bauchi, 35; Taraba, three (male) 11 (female); Zamfara four (male) two (female).
Many parents have lost faith in these unity schools and do not bother to send their children there anymore. Those who can afford it prefer private schools.
Alausa has promised to restore the lost glory of the unity schools. He was quoted to have said that government has not given any PTA the mandate to increase levy. While promising to address the problem frontally, he said his ministry had put a stop to hiring of teachers by the PTA.
On infrastructure, Alausa noted that the President had approved N40 billion to rehabilitate the unity schools – N20 billion for fencing and security in the schools and another N20 billion for the provision of solar energy.
Besides, the Federal Government earlier announced plans to unbundle the unity colleges. It is believed that this move will attract funding to improve infrastructure and teachers’ welfare. These are good moves if well implemented.
Nevertheless, the Federal Government should get more serious with education in Nigeria. The average budgetary allocation to the sector is about seven per cent. This is far less than the 26 per cent recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Education and health are the two most important sectors in any economy. Government should give priority to these sectors by beefing up their budgetary allocations. There is no point establishing schools and starving them of the necessary funds and facilities required for learning.
The money wasted in acquiring exotic vehicles and houses for public office holders could be utilized in upgrading the schools. All that government needs to do is to get its priority right. The Federal Ministry of Education should consider total overhaul of these schools. Discriminatory admission policy should be looked into with a view to maintaining standards and quality of output from these schools.