By Kabiru Suleiman

The other day my friend Abubakar Shehu (not real name), was lamenting that he found out that his nine year-old son could not recite Nigeria’s national anthem let alone the national pledge. He further said that he was rudely shocked to find out in the school his son attends, the pupils were taught only the proprietor’s country national anthem, language and other value system in one of the state capitals here in Nigeria!

I am sure that Abubakar Shehu is not alone. There are many Abubakar Shehus out there that are privileged enough to take their children to private schools in this country without actually knowing what is being taught to our children in such schools, but they don’t talk. The reason for their silence or indifferent to a large extent depends on their personal understanding and concern for their children’s upbringing. Some simply don’t care and don’t know. Whereas others genuinely meant well but are not aware of what is going on.

But how did we allow such situations to get to this extent? Is it possible for a child schooling in Ghana or any other country for that matter, to be taught Nigerian national anthem only or any of our indigenous languages? Certainly the answer is no. But why is it obtainable here? Many are of the opinion that the problem has been associated with loss of value systems and nonchalant attitudes of parents and near collapse of our educational system as manifested in the failure of the various educational regulatory and supervising agencies.

Others are of the opinion that the government agencies saddled with the statutory duty of inculcating such values and oversight functions are not doing their job. The Ministry of Education is supposed to draw up curriculum and be concerned about what is being taught in schools. Similarly, the National Orientation Agency ought to be concerned with the teachings of civic duties and education. But for corruption and lack of capacity, the schools were left on their own to the point of where we are now. The implication of this is that we are breeding crop of citizens who owe allegiance to a foreign country. They will grow up to detest Nigeria because they have no attachment whatsoever with it. Possibly, such schools may serve as recruiting grounds for subversive activities and other unlawful associations.  This is just here in Nigeria, only God knows what is happening abroad where Nigerians send their children to study.

The way out is to make our public educational system work effectively and efficiently. This would enable it compete with the private sector. It is equally important for regulatory agencies under the Ministry of Education to continuously monitor activities of private schools taking particular attention to ownership structures, curriculum and extracurricular activities. Above all, parents should show interest in schools that they send their children by investigating, monitoring and engaging appropriate authorities on lapses. Furthermore, there is need for all stakeholders such as CSOs and parent-teachers associations to be proactive in identifying and addressing negative tendencies in private schools.

*Suleiman is an Abuja based public analyst and passionate about quality education in Nigeria.

– Oct. 22, 2018 @ 14:15 GMT