North is treating education with levity — Barewa assoc scribe

Mr Haroun Audu, the Secretary General of Barewa Old Boys Association (BOBA), speaks on the decline of quality education in the North and what can be done to salvage the situation.

What impact has your association made so far?

I have come to see how clearly an old boys association can be a vehicle for transformative good in different areas. Firstly, the network is cohesive and driven by the right values which can impact the way the alma mater is being administered.

I saw BOBA, especially in the last 10 years mobilise resources human, financial, state and non-state. To rewrite the history of academic performance in Barewa College, it invested in the training of teachers in collaboration with the National Teachers Institute, Kaduna and got the Kaduna State to participate in the initiative.

This collaboration immediately produced a result where NECO, WAEC and associated exams took a turn for the better. Also, in terms of facilities in the college, I went to the college between 1976 and 1981 and the school had no fence, though its population was smaller but the level of discipline was very good. But in subsequent years, discipline in schools has been turned to dust, whether on the part of teachers, administrators or even parents. They all play a huge role in how their students comport themselves in schools. The association helped in the gathering of resources to construct the fence.

Is discipline connected to lack of prosperity in education in the North?

I have argued that parents bear the primary responsibility for the upbringing of the children. When we take our children to school, it is not for the school to discipline them but to infuse in them skills and abilities to become relevant for employment.

In the last couple of years, there has been a preponderance of incidents where parents have intervened in schools to demand that particular disciplinary measures meted against their ward should be withdrawn even when evidence showed that the children conducted themselves in a manner deserving of the disciplinary measures. We are in a situation where parents’ capacity to provide discipline at home has dwindled.

Discipline is a key problem in the school and if it has failed then we have a huge problem.

What do you think the government is not putting in place?

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) is an important institution that, if well supported and empowered, can engage the degenerating situation across society. I don’t see them doing a lot but they appear to be empowered to be able to do it.

Where is the North getting it wrong in meeting up the education standards with the rest of the country?

There was a deliberate investment in education when people like me attended secondary school and paid little for education and it was the realisation by the leadership in the North that it is lagging behind then.

But now, we have lost it. We don’t have consistent investments. Today, you find out that in the annual budget, huge sums are appropriated for education but when it is scrutinized, it is found that contracts are issued for capital projects while neglecting the teachers.

So there are different levels of damage that have happened to the North and funding is one of them and where it goes is another problem. I wonder how the North can get out of this quagmire without a systematic approach.

Security is one of the problems hindering education in the North, how can this be solved?

If bandits can kidnap dozens of students you wonder where the law enforcement agents are in this kind of situation. It is unfortunate that leadership in the North is treating education with levity. When mass abduction of school children came for ransom, the response has been pathetic and I believe it is a reflection of the seeming incapacity of law enforcement in the country.

It is the Nigeria Police that is responsible for security when it comes to civilian issues but its entire setup is a joke. They view every issue that comes to them in pecuniary terms.

What we need to do is that police reforms are key, intelligence gathering between the various law enforcement agencies is important and the use of technology to combat the menace. Insecurity in the North has set us 20 years back.

 What role do you think stakeholders can play in the development of education in the North?

The time has come for the re-examination of the public school. The government still bears a huge responsibility to forge and foster an educational sector that is supported by the public sector. With the level of impunity in the country, many private schools are not constructed to bring quality education but profit.

The government should deliberately look into its engagement with the education sector and begin to mobilise serious stakeholders, like alumni associations, that are willing to contribute ideas and some through resources because they have benefited from the system.

To expand it, there are grants that the public schools can benefit from when it can be proven beyond doubt that the money would go to the education of the less privileged and devoid of corruption.