Enrolment into Ondo public schools has been dwindling and the state government isn’t happy about it. But the government only equivocated last week on what it wants done about the trend.
Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Chairman Victor Olabimtan went into what turned out to be overdrive in canvassing patronage of public schools. He invoked the ‘live-by-example’ dictum and forbade public school teachers from enrolling their wards in private schools. A statement on his meeting with headteachers across the state’s three senatorial districts reported that he frowned on dwindling number of pupils in public schools despite government’s efforts and threatened that teachers would henceforth be held liable for drop in school enrolment. “The SUBEB chairman condemned in strong terms the attitude of some teachers taking their biological children to private schools and ruled that it has become an offence for any public school teacher to take his/her wards to private schools,” the statement said.
Shortly after Olabimtan’s statement, Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu recalibrated the touted ban on teachers enrolling their wards in private schools. A statement by his spokesman said there was no law forbidding teachers from enrolling their children in private schools or any school of their choice despite government’s commitment to public education. Outlining sundry achievements by the Akeredolu administration in improving the public school system, the statement added: “It is based on this background that teachers in public schools were urged on moral ground to enroll their wards in public schools for confidence-building. This will increase enrollment and further encourage government to embark on more upgrades to public schools. There is no policy or law in Ondo State that forbids anyone in the service of government, including teachers, from enrolling their wards in any school. However, there is always a place for moral burden. It is, therefore, not an offence for teachers to enroll their wards in any school of their choice. But it will be morally wrong for teachers who are proud of their work to put their wards in private schools.”
But there’s nothing wrong really if public school teachers are statutorily barred from enrolling their wards in private schools. Actually, it shouldn’t be just teachers but all government officials – especially those with mandate relating one way or the other to improving the education sector. And neither should they be permitted to send their children abroad for education, even when they could afford to so do. Since an enabling law to this end does not already exist, there is urgent need for one at all levels of government. The Nigerian public education system is in shambles, and a desperate ailment warrants desperate remedy.