Ogun State tops the ladder as the state hosting the highest number of approved universities in Nigeria with at least 13 located in different parts of the state.
The Gateway State also boasts of 1,440 public primary schools, 471 public secondary schools and seven public technical colleges.
However, experts have questioned if there is correlation between the number of institutions it has and the quality of education in the state. For instance, the state has wobbled between 14th and 19th position in performance of WASCE in the last four years.
Of note is the fact also of education having enjoyed the highest budgetary allocation throughout the eight years of the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led government in the state.
In the current budget, Daily Trust reports that the state allocated N88.579billion representing 22.00 per cent of the state budget to the education sector.
While many educationists applauded ex-governor Amosun’s commitment to giving the education sector lion’s share of the budget, they however also gave him knocks for “poor implementation” which in their view has left education in the state in a bad shape.
From aborted plans to scrap the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun, to the upgrade of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic to a university, and the construction of multi-billion naira model schools, Amosun seemed to have caused more controversies in the education sector.
When Governor Dapo Abiodun came on board, in his inaugural address, he admitted that Ogun State’s “pride as the intellectual capital of the nation is being gradually eroded with the declining standard of the education system in the state and uninspiring performances of its products in national and internationally moderated examinations.”
Abiodun, who also described the state of education as worrisome, said “We have been confronted with stories of unpaid salaries, poor funding, unremitted deductions, moribund projects, controversial campus relocations, hasty appointments, and strikes etc.
“Confidence has been eroded, unless we act quickly, education, which is already in serious trouble, will get worse. We cannot afford to have our education, which should be the bedrock of all our development activities, in such a state.”
Speaking with Daily Trust, a former vice chancellor of Tai Solarin University of Education, Prof Kayode Oyesiku, said “So far, there is no correlation between numbers of tertiary institutions in Ogun State and the standard of education in the state.”
Oyesiku submitted that investment in secondary school education and welfare of teachers have reduced in the last eight years.
He further said: “The level of truancy is becoming extremely high because there are no spaces for the students to sit. Some of them hang up at the windows, some without classrooms to have their classes. That environment is not very good to absorb whatever is needed for secondary education.
“Surprisingly, the state went ahead to build over 20 so-called Model Schools. None of them is functional and each of them was estimated to cost almost N2billion. N2bn given to secondary schools in each local government will turn it round remarkably. So, it is not a gainsaying that the previous administration never thought seriously about fixing education right from primary to secondary,” the former VC said.
He demanded for tracking of the last government’s budget on education, saying “It has actually gone into empty pockets and empty promises.”
“So, it’s actually a complete systemic failure on the part of Ogun State government. And for that particular reason you cannot expect anything better in terms of the outcome going by the yardsticks,” Oyesiku said.
On the way forward, the former vice urged Abiodun to “fix the infrastructure and services. More importantly more of the investment should go into revamping those classrooms. It is extremely very important that the environment in which the students actually study is conducive for learning.”
Oyesiku also asked the governor to allow the universities to charge commensurable not exorbitant fees to make sure that services are available at those universities.
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