In this interview with PETER DADA, the Chairman of the Ondo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr Victor Amoko, responds to the call on teachers to lead by example and enroll their children in the public schools where they teach
The Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education in Ondo State was recently reported as saying that teachers would be held responsible for the low enrollment of pupils in the public primary schools. How do you respond to that?
Well, I don’t believe in that; I believe in equity and justice when it comes to the issue like this because if the school environment is okay and conducive, the parents themselves will bring their children to the school for enrollment, after all, many of these parents don’t have the money to send their children to the private schools. When the public school environment is not conducive for learning, nobody will bring their children. It is good we have school buildings, we have perimeter fencing but we don’t have (enough) teachers, who are the engine room of any level of education.
As I am speaking with you, we have over 13,000 vacancies (for teachers) in the public primary schools in Ondo State. Though we know we have economic challenges in this country, education remains important and should be given top priority and it is the duty of everyone to take it more seriously.
There is no way teachers can force parents to enroll their wards in public school since the managers of education, that is, government officials, themselves don’t do the same. For instance, if today we take a roll call of commissioners, permanent secretaries, directors and other top government officials, whose children are attending or have attended public schools, we will see that the figure will be nothing to write home about. And since these people don’t have their children in these public schools, their focus won’t be on that. So, there is no way they would fund education, most especially, public education, as adequately as should be.
Again, most of these private schools you are seeing around are owned by the permanent secretaries, retired permanent secretaries, retired heads of service and all others. With this circumstance, will they be ready to show seriousness or commitment to public education? They know that if public schools are well funded and parents bring their children, they (private school owners) will lose on their investments.
So you think public schools are deliberately being underfunded to allow for private schools to thrive?
Well, if you look at it from one perspective, you will say it is economic recession but if you look at it from another angle, you will say it is deliberate. This is because if you are a businessman and you have a rival, you will not do anything that will give your rival an edge over you. I believe public schools are rivals to private schools and anybody who owns private schools will never do anything that will make the public schools function and progress. If you are a director in a government ministry and you have a private school, you will never support any policy or action that will favour the development of public schools. Same goes for the higher institutions of learning. If you own a university, you will never pray for ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) to end their strike. That is it. If the strike is ended, many parents, who are considering sending their children to private universities, won’t do so anymore. So, if the owners of the private universities have their way, they would encourage the ASUU strike to continue.
Do your findings on the owners of private primary and secondary schools, you will discover that they are directors and the permanent secretaries in government employment. A standard private school cannot be owned by a farmer or a very low income earner; they are owned by the people in government.
The SUBEB Chairman said teachers have been called upon to withdraw their children from private schools and enroll then in public schools, as a way of leading by example. How do you react to this?
The question we should ask them is:
Why appeal to teachers only? Why not all public servants? Why not managers, why not governors? Why not commissioners? Why not top government functionaries? They believe teachers are voiceless in society. But I know one day, God will bring out the voice of the voiceless teachers in this country. You can imagine, you are deliberately not funding the public schools and you ask teachers to put their children there! I believe it is deliberate. You know it is us, teachers, who know where the shoe pinches. I know that from Primary One to Three, we don’t have teachers and you want me to put my child there, all because I am a teacher. If you employ teachers and the school is conducive, I won’t need anybody to appeal to me to enrol my children there. No matter what they say, we don’t have teachers. So, if you like it that way, make a policy that will make it compulsory for everybody to take his or her children to the public schools at all levels. That alone will raise our standard of education in Nigeria.
With the situation of the country, do you think such a policy is achievable?
If it is not achievable, if they believe it is not achievable they should not be so particular about teachers. What is the offence of teachers? The schools do not belong to teachers only; the schools belong to all us. So, all of us must do the needful to ensure the schools are in a proper shape and conducive for our children. All the facilities that are needed in schools must be provided, including the personnel that will work in the schools. We call them public schools, so, the public must be ready to give what it takes to raise the standard of these schools.
You said the public schools are lacking teachers but the government said it recently employed about 1,200 teachers. What do we believe?
It is true the government employed 1,200 teachers but this is not enough. What we need is far more than the number they employed. That is why I gave kudos to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, although he is neither a friend nor an enemy to us. As of when he employed 1,200 teachers, we already had shortage of 13,000 teachers. For almost 10 years, employment of teachers was not carried out. You know, on a yearly basis teachers retire, for 10 years, sets of teachers retired because when you clock 60 you will retire. So, assuming that in every year, 1,000 teachers attain the age of 60 and retire over 10 years that means at least 10,000 teachers have retired in 10 years and there is no replacement. Ordinarily, we are supposed to have employment of teachers every year to replace those that are retiring.
What is the current number of teachers in public schools in Ondo State?
We have 7,000 teachers in the public primary schools and 9,000 in the public secondary schools. In total, we are in need of 17,000 teachers, going by the specification of the UNESCO, which is one teacher to 25 pupils. So, going by that recommendation, we need 17,000 teachers.
Apart from shortage of teachers, what other challenges do primary schools face in Ondo State?
To be very frank and sincere, we are not lacking anything other than teachers. I am not a politician. I need not to tell lies against government. What I believe we need now are teachers. That is the major challenge we are facing.
Are you saying government has made enough investment in public education in Ondo State?
Of course, yes, because when you compare Ondo State with other states in that regard, you will give kudos to Akeredolu. If you talk about promotion, some states still have four years promotion arrears. Talk of minimum wage, one state is still paying N11,000 as minimum wage instead of N30,000. If you look at all these, you will give kudos to our governor here. He is trying his best; all those things we requested from him, he is still able to do them for us. Apart from shortage of teachers, there is nothing else we lack. If you go to many primary schools in Ondo State today, they have been rehabilitated, renovated because the government is paying its counterpart funds to UBEC as and when due. If the issue of insufficiency of teachers is addressed, then our primary schools will be the best.
So, if adequate number of teachers is recruited, will you encourage your members to withdraw their children from private schools and enrol them in public schools?
On the issue of bringing children to public schools, even though as we speak we still have some teachers among us whose children are in the public primary schools, what we are saying is that why don’t we have all government officials bring their children to the public schools? That is my take; not teachers alone. Let all of us bring back our children to the public schools. Teachers are not the only parents we have in Ondo State. Let us advocate that every parent bring their children to public schools. By so doing, public education will be funded well. Let those education managers or their children bring their wards to the public schools and things will be better in the schools.
What will the NUT do if the government makes it a policy and compulsory for children of public school teachers to attend public school?
I trust our governor, he would not do that; he would not bring such policy. Like I said, if such is coming, it should be for all public officials, not just teachers.
As NUT chairman, what are your dreams for your members and then the pupils in Ondo State?
My dream is to develop my members so that they can compete with their counterparts in any part of the world. Now the governor has given us the opportunity to reach Grade Level 17 (before retirement), which is the dream of my teachers; they want to reach the peak of their career. That is my dream also and also for our students to do well. To the glory of God, I am also the Vice Chairman of the NLC (Nigeria Labour Congress) in Ondo State.
Is primary and secondary school education free in Ondo State?
Well, when we talk of free education in primary and secondary school here, I think the parents pay examination fees; at times the government pays for the secondary school students. There are no tuition fees in Ondo State but there are some things that students have to have and that would be decided at the PTA (Parents-Teachers Association) meeting which comprise the parents, the teachers and the representative of Mr Governor. The government pays for WASSCE and the parents pay for NECO.
