Agnes Abiodun Owolabi is school administrator and principal, Federal Government Girls School, Sagamu, in Ogun State. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about the falling standards of education, cultism in secondary schools, remuneration for teachers and more.
A lot of people have been complaining of the falling standard of education, what do you think is responsible for the decline in unity schools?
I think it is the crop of the candidates that were given admission into unity schools. If you look at them, they are not the best. When you are taking somebody who scored two per cent, what can you do with that? The unity schools in those days were for the best students, when I was in Benin they were really good and that encouraged me when I got to Queen’s College, I thought that they had excellent students. They had thirteen per cent and I used to compare them with where I was coming from.
I came from Ogoja and the unity schools there, then they scored ten per cent and we were invited to the ministry by the then Minister and they asked us about the strategy to maintain the standards. By the time I left Ogoja, was about 98 per cent and we were ranking among the first three among the unity schools in the country both in Moths, Chemistry and any subject.
I was at Queens College for almost 18 years. After that, I was transferred to Ilorin to Ogoja and back to Sagamu. The Sagamu that I was expecting was not what I met on ground, compared to our days at Queens College; Sagamu doesn’t have any place when you compare the unity schools because I was in Benin Girls School before I was moved to Queens. Sagamu is nowhere in terms of academics and lack of discipline and everything is just upside down.
If you look at their results, there is nothing there. I was embarrassed and I had to report to the ministry, I thought that Sagamu was an extension of queens. The closeness of Sagamu to Queens was a factor and anyone who does not gain admission to Queens is referred to Sagamu. Queens College always had the best students but that has also changed. By the time I came here, I found that the place is volatile but I thank God that I am on top of the situation.
Volatile in what aspect?
The members of staff, they were always agitating for one thing or the other. Although my predecessors contributed to the agitations, I wouldn’t blame them. But I think they should have done it in another form, maybe communication gap caused this.
What is the idea behind the creation of Unity schools?
The idea is to unify all the tribe. Although every tribe is entitled to education but we cannot say that because everybody is entitled to education, we should just bring anybody.
In some schools, some students cannot even write their names.
So what exactly is wrong?
The first thing is the foundation from primary schools. All the films that they watch and the fact that they have lost focus. The parents are also contributing to what is happening. These days, parents do not have time for their children, they are running after money. Look at the children in private schools, they are excelling because the parents here are concerned. We invited parents for open day, many complained about fuel scarcity. If you have the love of your children at heart, no matter what you would be interested in the child’s welfare and progress.
You also hear stories of parents paying people to write exams for their children, what does this portend?
A lot of them believe that money can do it all. But when NECO discovered that people now pay money for their children when they are writing the Common entrance that was when NECO introduced a second exam. It is during this second examination that is when everything is exposed. Here the private schools are also guilty because they also place so much emphasis on money. They copy everything for them and they have miracle centre.
Cultism is a trend in schools these days, how have you been addressing this?
Just before I came to Sagamu, I heard that they caught some students for cultism in the school. When you get them like that, the best punishment is to dismiss them from the school. The problem however is with the parents, who would come begging that their children cannot do that .They see their parents and some of them are members of cult groups.
Are the teachers motivated enough to do their work?
They are not! That was why the teachers I met in Sagamu were agitating. They were owed over 20 million, there was no money and they were owed allowances and some other benefits. I do not really blame their predecessors because there was no money. It was not limited to Sagamu alone; it cut across all the Unity schools.
Teachers would go for promotion interview they would come back and not get the money that they are entitled to. And there is another thing, the way teachers are being treated, people look down on teachers, if you ask our SS3 students how many of them want to be teachers, they would say no and be raising up their hands for courses like Engineering or Medicine . Nobody wants to be a teacher because of the treatment.
Over time, you hear people say that the teachers reward is in heaven. Do you agree with this?
We live on earth and so we have to get our rewards here. We do not know what heaven looks like; when we get there we would know.
As an administrator, what do you think that the average teacher should be earning?
Teachers should own vehicles, they should own houses. Some people are still earning below forty thousand naira a month and if you look at the amount what can that buy. When I was on level 16, I was earning N190, 000 my son was earning 250,000.
What inspired you in your choice of career?
My parents, both of them were teachers and my elder sister was also a teacher. I thought as a woman you would be able to come back home early to take care of the family. I thank God for my children, they passed through Unity schools and they are doing well.
Looking back now after over three decades, do you have any regrets?
I have no regrets at all. I love working with children.
What advice do you have for the incoming government?
Everybody is banking on the incoming government and that they would look at education. Education is the bedrock of everything. The doctors, engineers and even the president passed through the school system and through teachers at one point or the other.
They go through a process and the foundation is solid. If the foundation is faulty, what can the righteous do? There is an adage in Yoruba that says that any river that forgets its source would dry up. So, people in government need to give the sector a facelift.
To monitor the students, bring them up to good standard is a lot of work. We do not sleep, many work round the clock and we should be compensated accordingly. Not just the teachers but the facilities and the totality of the school system. We do not have electricity at the moment and we pay a lot on diesel.
Teachers should be trained and retrained, while parents need to be sensitized. For instance, if we have the 21st century classroom in Nigeria, where you have a project and every student has a tablet, everything would be okay.
As a stakeholder, how has the PTA assisted?
They should be encouraged to do their best because it is in the best interest of their children. For instance, all the personnel that we do not have, the ad hoc staff, it is the PTA that is assisting us. For example in the school we have only one driver, the remaining two are being taken care of by the PTA.