Buhari on Education

Awareness

There is little done in the manifesto itself to expound the need for education or the problems facing the education sector. However, there is a level of awareness that can be inferred from the policies out forward. The policies show awareness of the need to review the curriculums being taught in school and an awareness of the demand for education that is often coupled with lack of access to it. His policies also demonstrate a commitment to the Universal Basic Education (UBE) goal.

That said there are a lot of areas that the diminutive section on education doesn’t touch on. There is no mention of the quality of education in terms of the abilities/availability/commitment of the teachers and the availability of equipment and resources. It makes no reference to how schools are controlled and funded. It also neglects the education of girl-children and nomads, which need special attention in Nigeria.

Ambition

The first policy for universal attendance of junior secondary school is part of the nine years of education (UBE) commitment of the Millennium Development Goals to which Nigeria is a signatory. So this should really be seen as a pre-requisite for any current or future administration, although the compulsory continuation to senior secondary education and the emphasis on functionality throughout do show a level of ambition.

The ambition of any curriculum review depends on the review of the curriculum itself. Whether it will simply bring up to date outdated learning systems or practices or will choose to overhaul the whole thing remains to be seen.

The establishment of an education bank, geared at providing student loans will be a monumental task. Not only the initial difficulty of setting up and financing it, but the establishment of a system that will ensure that the bank is able to recover the money it lends will also be difficult.

Detail

This section of the plan only provides the policies in its barest forms. As already noted, there is no expounding of the scale of the issue, so too is there very little detail given of the how. The question with many of the policies will be how will they be funded (privately/publicly, federal/state) and how will they be monitored to ensure that standards are kept and in these regards the manifesto has nothing to say.

My View

I think that education should be the bedrock of any political manifesto for these upcoming elections. The ramifications of a good education system are wide reaching in terms of everything from crime to health to the economy and so I was particularly disappointed in this section.  I feel there is a need for a revolution in the education sector that will ensure UBE for all Nigerians, but beyond that will not just follow the trend. The focus really ought to be on vocational training and sector specific training. There are a multitude of unemployed graduates so stop funnelling more 16-18 year olds into an inadequate university system. The plan is not offensive to me, I understand if you believe the current 6-6-(4) or 6-3-3-(4) system of education is eventually going to come good in Nigeria then this is what needs to be done, but I don’t believe that.

Scores (Out of 5)

Awareness: 2.0

Ambition: 3.0

Detail: 0.5

My View: 1.5

Ribadu on Education

Awareness
In terms of education, Ribadu seems to be aware of the problem - in its scope, scale, causes and implications. He highlights the role of education for the economic and social development of the country and the need to make education a priority. The plan acknowledges the full range of issues in education: the issues of access to and capacity of educational institutions; the lack of a unified programme on education; the problem of specific disadvantage groups (girl child, alamjiri, nomads etc) and the issue of quality assurance. However, it doesn't address Universal Basic Education (UBE) explicitly.

Ambition
The plan doesn't lay out exactly what it wants to address or how. There is a specific reference made to the priority of funding and the need to meet the UNESCO recommendation on funding education. It also mentions the need to create a unified body in charge of education as well as improved inspection of schools. If we assume that every issue raised is to be addressed, then the plan is very ambitious but otherwise it lacks any real ambition.

Detail
The document is very detailed in its awareness of the problem, however it is very scanty on detail in regards to his goals and even more so in terms of how they are to be achieved.

My View
Education is important and should be the priority of any new government. It has the power to ameliorate a lot of the other problems facing Nigeria. Ribadu does a good job of expounding the problem but for me doesn't stress the importance of education. I think he should have made a commitment to UBE not just in the quantitative aspect of 100% education but in the qualitative aspects in regards to staff and facility. I personally would reduce the focus on secondary and tertiary education from the federal budget. Instead I would focus more on industry-specific vocational training (for agriculture, factory work etc)
The plan does well to identify minority groups ( girls, nomads etc) that need to be addressed; and while I agree, I would focus more on female education as this is the fairest way (not ethnic/region specific) and will have the widest reaching social, economic and health effect.

Scores (out of 5)
Awareness: 4.5
Ambition: 2.0
Detail : 1.0
My view: 2.5