Taraba State Governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas, in June, last year declared a state of emergency on education which has as its major component, free education for indigenes. One year down the line, The Nation’s Taraba Correspondent, VICTOR GAI, examines the policy.
DURING a parley with reporters after his assumption of office in 2023, the Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, declared a state of emergency in education. The policy had as its main component, free education at all levels. The news was received with great optimism by indigenes and also attracted media attention.
At the emergency declaration, Kefas stated: “But you see the state of our primary schools, the environment in the secondary schools; we need to do something about it. We already have samples and templates of what we want to do in the schools. And also, we will include training of teachers for effectiveness. So, when we appoint our commissioners, we will be able to take up that one as soon as possible.
“But the one that is a must is to declare a state of emergency on the state of our primary and secondary schools. We are not talking about security, because that is the standard and the primary responsibility of the government to provide to its citizens. Security is my constitutional responsibility.”
Other components of the state of emergency as promised by Kefas include free uniforms, shoes and writing materials for primary school pupils, massive renovation of schools, slashing of tuition fees of tertiary institutions by 50%.
Findings by The Nation one year after showed that students in these tertiary institutions: Taraba State University, the state polytechnic, the College of Nursing and the College of Education pay half of their actual school fees in line with the new policy while the College of Agric students still pay the old fees because it is N27,000.
Additionally, massive rehabilitation is taking place in those tertiary institutions. But, the sectors that face the most challenges now are that of basic and secondary education. There was massive enrolment of pupils and students as soon as the policy was declared by the governor in the face of low number of teachers and inadequate structures to accommodate them.
According to statistics provided by the Taraba State Primary Schools Management Board, the state experienced a 61% increase in pupils/students enrolment after the declaration of the state of emergency in education. When the declaration was made, which was during school vacation, the number of students was 100,950. Upon resumption, the number rose to 163,235, recording a 62,285 increase and representing a 61.84% increase. This has generated concerns among citizens as to the real intention of the policy. Also, the present situation contradicts the governor’s earlier promise in 2023 where he said that “we already have samples and templates of what we want to do in the schools. And also we will include training of teachers for effectiveness. So, when we appoint our commissioners, we will be able to take up that one as soon as possible”.
Moreover, during the parley with the media in 2023, a reporter raised a concern which was shared by stakeholders in the sector. He brought the governor’s attention to the fact that some stakeholders were concerned about the hastiness of the policy and that the governor ought to have consulted them before making any declaration. Kefas, in his response, said: “I don’t make pronouncements; I only make declarations”. He also said he was the “number one stakeholder in the state”, which gives him the ample opportunity to declare a policy.
However, despite the policy declaration and the timelines given for the full implementation of the policy, there are so many gaps that need to be filled. The Nation learnt that, though no school fees are being paid in both primary and secondary schools across the state, some disgruntled officials made attempts to frustrate the policy by collecting fees from pupils.
The unavailability of school uniforms, shoes, writing materials and accommodation to cater for the massive enrolment of students and pupils is also a source of concern among the people.
During the stakeholders meeting to mark the governor’s one year in office on May 29, 2024, Kefas re-echoed his administration’s resolve to ensure the success of the free education policy. He gave the reason why the free education policy at the basic level could not begin fully. He also warned the government officials, who were trying to frustrate the free education policy.
Kefas disclosed: “We have engaged a firm; its job is to assemble people with building experiences here in the state. In the next few days, you people will witness massive construction of school structures across the 16 local government areas of Taraba State.
“Our plan is to make the students learn in conducive environments. You will discover that most of our schools don’t have perimeter fencing, no classes for the children and even desks. We have to improve on these things first before we go into the technical aspects of learning.”
But, an education expert, Joseph Gimba, while commending the governor for declaring a state of emergency in education, also faulted the governor’s inability to consult stakeholders on how to go about the policy.
Gimba , who is the coordinator, Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Taraba State, said the hasty manner the policy was made was wrong because of paucity of funds and the lack of structures and personnel to run the programme.
He said: “Looking at it from our own perspective as a civil society organisation, we were expecting that there should have been a study. If there is no study, there should be a report indicating those clear gaps in the Taraba State education system. That is one. From those gaps identified, you now work out modalities to fill the gaps. It shouldn’t have been so automatic. It should have been gradual looking at how difficult things are in terms of finances, human capital development – teachers need to trained, those that are already teaching need to be retrained – and knowing fully well that it is a new regime. Those teachers needed to learn, relearn and unlearn, because of the new development. But, you said free education. Education is very expensive. Funding education is like putting water into a bottomless pit. But with good planning, the free primary education would have taken shape in phases.
“As it is now, there is high enrolment in schools. I doubt if we have the same for teachers. Even if we have the same for teachers, I doubt if we have the competency that is required to take on this large enrollment. And what about the infrastructure? Let me give you this story, Chief Femi Falana (SAN), floated a video of a community in Gashaka, on your way to Mambilla, where there were over 200 pupils without classrooms. I took that video and sent it to the Commissioner of Education and the State Primary Education Board for them to look at it and address it. There are so many communities like that. Even within the time he is talking about free education, some schools have been established. So, it overstretched the lean resources of the government.
“With the N44 billion as budget for education, as far as I am concerned, the money is not enough. The way that money would be enough is when there are systematic ways of filling the gaps. What mechanisms have been put in place to ensure this free education? We heard that one or two teachers were reprimanded for doing what they are not supposed to do, but if you go to our schools today, the pupils are without uniforms, and they would tell you that it is because they are waiting for uniforms. We used to have what we call PTA teachers. In some schools, you have more PTA teachers than government teachers. And as far as we are concerned as a civil society organisation, we are not deeply involved in what is going on for us to give our own advice.”
He, however, commended the governor for his idea of free education but said it would have been better if the governor consulted local stakeholders and adopted the policy gradually.
Another member of the civil society in Taraba State, Samuel Tari, said they have advised government to put structures on ground first before going about the free education policy. “The members of the committee for the one year anniversary have not engaged us. Otherwise, we would have projected the work we have done based on his instruction for free education in the state in terms of instructional materials, furniture and creating a conducive environment for learning,” Tari disclosed.
A school principal, who craved anonymity for fear of victimisation, said there are factors to be considered before declaring free education, which have not been put in place.
“You need to look at the environment where those learners learn. You say free education, where are the classes? Have you gone round to get statistics of the pupils, classrooms, desks and blackboards? Are they in order? You instructed for school fees to be stopped but the fees are used to run these schools,” he stated.
According to him, there has been an influx of students and pupils from neighbouring states seeking to take advantage of the free education, which puts a lot of pressure on existing facilities.
A parent, who chose not to be identified, also spoke on the situations of school system. He lamented on the absence of teachers, especially in the rural areas and that wives of state officials often turn down deployment to rural areas. “There is absence of teachers, especially in the rural areas,” he stated.
Meanwhile, efforts to speak with the Commissioner of Education, Dr. Augustina Yahaya, have always failed as she neither responded to phone calls nor replied text messages seeking for audience with her. An initial move to speak with her in December 2023, on the progress of the free education policy had failed as she directed this reporter to first seek for clearance from the Commissioner of Information for her to speak on the issue.
“Please seek for that interview from the Commissioner for Information or seek permission to interview me from her first. Good morning! “Dr. Yahaya responded in her reply.
