For long, public and private schools in Lagos ran on different steam. Now, things are being streamlined as part of efforts to improve education, KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE, MEDINAT KANABE, SAMPSON UNAMKA and JANE CHIJIOKE report.
•Govt adopts uniform calendar
As part of moves to enhance education, the Lagos State government has introduced a uniform calendar for public and private schools. The initiative took off at the beginning of the second term last Monday when public and private primary and secondary schools resumed at the same time.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye said the government was also contemplating having a uniform curriculum and examinations. A system for grading private schools will also be introduced.
In an interview with The Nation, she said the policies were evolved to ensure the education system runs smoothly and efficiently.
She said the state was collaborating with private education providers to make the policies workable.
Already, the committee that looked into the harmonization of schools’ calendar, curriculum and the Basic Education Certificate examination for public and private schools in the state submitted its report on December 30.
The Committee, chaired by Dr Femi Ogunsanya, President, Association of Private Educators of Nigeria (APEN), was made up of representatives of National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Catholic, Ansar-ud Deen, Redeemed, League of Muslim Schools (LEMMPS), Association of International Schools in Nigeria (AISEN), Association of Private School Owners (APSO), Methodist Baptist, Association for Formidable Educational Developments (AFED) as well as the Nigerian Union of Teachers and officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Education and Office of Special Adviser on Education.
Neither the committee’s recommendations nor the government’s response to the report have been made public. However, Mrs Oladunjoye said during the interview that the changes are in the best interest of the basic and secondary education sector.
She said the state is insisting on a uniform calendar to bring order to the running of the academic sessions.
She said: “We were working at cross purposes before; and I know that if you work at cross purposes, you can never attain the right vision and objective and results. Since this ministry or government is a result-oriented government we assume that there is need for us to work together. So we called the private sector because we cannot do it alone. First of all, the knowledge and the experience and infrastructure and exposure, they have as private sector, we don’t have it. So also the initiative we have as government they don’t have it, so there is need for us to harmonize their activities. And the issue of calendar is something that has always been a problem in the past. They go on vacation at anytime they like. School A will go, then school B will go at a different time; government will go at a different time. You can’t even plan your holidays. So we just said okay there is need for us to work together as a body that will ensure that we have the right calendar so we now know that together we go on vacation, together we will resume.”
However, Mrs Oladunjoye said exceptions will be made for foreign schools that follow calendars of their home country if they seek permission.
Many school owners that spoke with The Nation welcomed the uniformed calendar.Mr Abdulrazak Oladipo, Director of Da’wah Schools, Jakande Estate, Isolo, Lagos said it would stop schools from scheming to enrol more pupils.
“It is a welcome idea. People are just cheats. They assume if they resume earlier they would get more pupils. They should follow the Lagos State rule,” he said.
Vice Principal, Amazing Grace Private School, Ilasa, Mr Jonathan Monina, also said the policy is in order.
“Actually last year we received a particular notice that all schools should resume the same day, at least we welcomed the idea, today we resumed together and we went on vacation the same time with the public schools and for us it is a welcome development,” he said.
However, some school owners are urging the government to make December closing date earlier because of those who wish to travel for the yuletide. Mrs Rachel Dairo, Proprietress Summer Rain Schools, Isolo, complained that many pupils did not wait until the closing date last December.
“It is a good thing but, you notice that before Christmas, parents want to travel so that they can pay less on transport fare. Before Christmas classes become empty. For example, a teacher complained that she has been married for five years and wished to travel before Christmas to see her parents,” she said.
Dr Ijeoma Unachukwu, Cidec School, Apapa, said schools that run international curricula may find it difficult to comply with the uniform calendar policy.
“I am believing God too that it would work but for now it is still difficult; in the sense that in private education system we run different curricula. Some go by the British curricula, some go by America and some go by Nigeria and some unify the three and it depends on when you take off and when you land. Also, some of us have international students who want to conclude their programmes here and go over there and meet their people and then also they want to come back,” she said.
For some schools, their concern is how strikes by labour unions in public schools could affect the calendar. Mr Ayodele Ayodeji, Principal of SMA College, Isolo, highlighted this concern and added that schools should be allowed to choose when they should close or resume.
He said: “We have always followed the resumption date. However, every private institution should have the liberty of when to resume. They may decide to resume or close a week after other schools. The most important thing is that they follow the scheme of work and curriculum and finish it. If the public school teachers decide to go on strike, are they saying the private schools should also hold on or if there is a distraction in the schools, the private schools should wait for them? They are not the ones paying our teachers’ salaries.”
Uniform curriculum
The issue of uniform curriculum has also caused division among private school owners. Some schools run the Nigerian curriculum, while others use it in combination with British, American and other curricula. Schools are required to purchase the Nigerian curriculum books yearly. However, some school administrators seem to be unsatisfied with the way the curriculum changes.
Proprietress of Lillywhite Schools, Ilupeju, Mrs Taufikat Osibanjo said school owners will be happy to cooperate with the government but need the government to be consistent.
“We are facing a lot of challenges on that issue. We are ready to cooperate with them; but sometimes they usually drive us back, because their own curricular is not clear,” she said.
Ayodeji of SMA College, claimed that the curriculum given by the state is not well organised.
“I can authoritatively tell you that the Lagos State government has changed its scheme of work two times. The curriculum is like a bible. It contains the totality of what should be done in all the classes. The scheme of work is drawn from the curriculum and the exam guide is also drawn from it. Every state has a liberty to draw up its scheme of work. If a scheme of work is given to an experienced teacher, he will look at it and decide what should be taught first; Lagos state has always had a scattered curriculum,” he said.
Principal, Grandmate Schools, Ilasa, Mr Adesanya Abiodun, said foreign curricula, particularly British, are popular with some schools because parents prefer it.
“Government should stop bothering itself with schools that operate British curriculum. It cannot be completely cancelled. I believe it is all about taste and because they can afford to do it. Moreover many of these schools are owned by foreigners and those who patronise them are mostly children of senators, governors and they don’t intend for their children to study in Nigeria in the first place. As soon as the children finish from primary or secondary school, they are sent out of the country to further their education,” he said.
However, the Head Teacher, Ansar-Ud-Deen Nursery and Primary School, Mafoluku, Mrs Zaninab Oluokun said the Nigerian curriculum is more in-depth and therefore, preferable.
“Sincerely speaking, the Nigerian curriculum is far better than the British one because when you go through theirs and compare it with ours you will see that ours is more detailed. I do not know why people go for British; maybe because of the name. Ours is wider in scope and more comprehensive. Here in my school we take roughly 16 to 17 subjects. I think that is a good idea by the government,” she said.
Mr Sadiq Ibrahim, Principal of Laureates College, Aviation Estate, Mafoluku, said the Nigerian curriculum is not attractive to parents, not because it is not good, but because it is not well implemented.
“It is not as if the other curricula are better than ours; it is because the ones we have at present the government does not ensure compliance. They don’t even provide the facilities that could make the compliance easy. In fact we haven’t fully achieved the things stipulated in our curriculum. For instance in the curriculum, we have wood work, electrical work and other technical trades, but they have not been actualised. I don’t think the curriculum is the problem; they should ensure its maximum use,” he said.
A parent, Mr Kosi Udochukwu, agrees on the uniform education policy because of its local content.
“It is a wonderful thing to do. We should teach our children more about their country. The worst of it all is that most of the private schools that use the foreign curriculum are more expensive, as if the Nigerian curriculum has no worth,” he said.
Lagos State President of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, Chief Yomi Otubela, also advised school owners to patronise the Nigerian curriculum.
“What is important is that those who are running these curricula should try to achieve a blend. A child that studies in Nigeria should have a knowledge of our history and culture,” he said.
Examinations
In the new dispensation, the Lagos State government is insisting that all schools should register their pupils for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) organised for Basic Nine (JSS3) pupils by the Lagos State Examination Board and the Senior School Certificate Examination organised for SS3 pupils.
Regarding the SSCE, the Commissioner said schools are free to run whatever curriculum the wish to but must register their pupils for the examination.
“You see they have a right to do whatever examination they want to do but they must do the local examination. That is the crux of the matter. So what we are saying is that you can do your GCSE; but your must right WASC. Those children must have a choice. Not every child would want to go abroad, so if you do your final year examination, if you want to remain in Nigeria, write WASC, write UTME, and remain in Nigeria. They can do whatever addition but it is incumbent on them to do our local examination,” she said.
Regarding the Lagos-organised BECE, Mrs Oladunjoye said there have been challenges about the timing of the examination, which is presently being sorted out.
“Before, private schools have been complaining that when we fix our examination they are on holiday or they have not finished the syllabus. That is why I said the exam board itself has been fortified. Now, we are going to have an agreement as to when we should write our next examination – looking at all the exigencies of the situation,” she said.
In considering what should be the solution, Otubela, NAPPS President and Proprietor of Lagos Schools, Iyana-Ipaja, said the government should fix the examination for the third term. “It is our opinion that the examination should come in third term and not in second term. Even the government is handicapped because they use the same examiners as those that mark for WASC, UTME, and NECO. So when those bodies come calling, the examiners prefer to mark for them. As a result, their results are usually released after schools have resumed for the new term so it becomes almost irrelevant,” he said.
Vice Principal of New Covenant Schools, Isolo, Lagos, Mr Adeshola Adekoya, said the government should evolve ways to make people take the BECE serious.
“Government should just be serious with the exam because they are also not serious with a lot of things. Many schools would not want to take part in it because they feel that government just want to use it to get money, but government should try to convince them of its purpose. Many other schools that partake in the exam because they have to. We do the BECE exams and we take it seriously.”
Grandmate Schools Principal, Abiodun, suggests that the government issues certificates for the examination.
“Most of our parents don’t want their children to do the exams because they believe that whether they write it or not their children will go to SSS1. If government wants it to be effective they should issue certificates for the exams to encourage parents. They can also make it very compulsory. They can say if you don’t pass you will not get promoted. Presently, they don’t fail; they are just made to retake the exams when they are in SSS1 which is not enough. Some parents don’t even bother; they just go and pay for another school for their children,” he said.
However, the commissioner said the examination board has been strengthened to conduct the BECE properly.
