•Dr Pitan Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Dr. Leke Pitan, former Commissioner for Education in Lagos State has said that the ‘Adopt a Public School Programme’ initiated by the state government is not a strategy by the state government to shift its responsibility of providing qualitative and free education to students in the state. He said this in an interview with Daily Sun recently while speaking on issues bordering on education.

The former education helmsman pointed out that if corporate bodies such as banks and oil companies were positive towards the initiative, it would go a long way in solving the myriad problems confronting education in the state.

The rot in public schools
Of course, not enough is being done but a lot of resources has been put in. It is just that you have so much to be done. Demand is more than supply. It is not as if there is no supply, government is supplying a lot of resources.

But what is required is so much. So, there’s a gap. There’s a yawning gap. And it is mainly because of the way Lagos is. There are so many students; so many schools and we do not yet have typical federalism where resources of a place can as much as possibly stay in them.
Otherwise, with the population of Lagos, if a large chunk of all the resources generated stays there, government will have enough to fund what you are talking about. Then, supply will match demand. There’s so much demand but so little supply.

So, to that extent, you cannot totally blame the government. In spite of that, more needs to be done. I believe this year, government has budgeted a lot of money. But even at that, government will be the last to say that what it has budgeted is even enough. It can never be enough because there is so much to do.
With time, we hope the Federal Government will come in and help and help a state like Lagos, given the population. And we also hope the private sector will come in and help, given the strategic nature of Lagos to their own economic well-being as private sector.

There’s no bank that does not have its headquarters in Lagos. There’s no oil company that does not have its headquarters in Lagos. So, most of their staff, at least the middle and lower level send their children to Lagos State schools either public or private. For the MDs and the management staff, children of their domestic staff go to Lagos State schools. So, to that extent, they owe a lot, they need to give a lot beck to Lagos by adopting the schools.

We in Lagos State started the Adopt a School Programme. It started during my time and the government is continuing with it. Even the Federal Government has taken it up. I urge the private sector to come in and directly do this. A bank can decide to adopt 50 schools. That number is not too much for a bank to adopt, given the number of banks that make most of their money in Lagos State. By the time they take up 50 schools each, even 10 banks could have covered almost all the secondary schools. So, a lot can be done.

Government shifting its responsibility
No, the call on corporate bodies to adopt the schools does not mean that government is trying to shelve its responsibilities. What it means is that the bank or oil company or institution that wants to do so is simply identifying with the government and school it wants to adopt. By so doing, such organization may decide to foot the bill for say building or rehabilitation of structures, provision of infrastructure like water, light. It could also be in the area of equipping the school’s library or laboratories.
This is done according to what problem is peculiar to such school. The companies may decide to take responsibility of paying teachers’ and staff salaries while government provides and takes care of the infrastructure and amenities in the schools.

So, the adopt a school initiative does not mean that the schools now belong to the company that adopts it. No! Government still owns the schools, pays teachers and staff salaries, pensions and gratuities. It should be seen as only a way of giving back a little to the community from which it is taking a lot. A way of saying thank you to the state.

Clamp down on private schools
Quality grading is a necessary thing in any educational system. So, to that extent, it is a necessary thing that has to be done. However, the government should now go further and they have done so by calling those private schools affected to help them in upgrading. In terms of helping them liaise with banks and funding organizations to provide the basic credit facilities so that they can upgrade because the students there are government students also. Yes, the students even in private schools are government students.

Sustaining credibility in post-UME test
The post-UME test is still effective and necessary. Even JAMB is still very much relevant. It is easier to manage the rot than when we have just the centralized system of JAMB which like I have said is still necessary. But each university must still be autonomous enough to say, even those of you who passed UME to come to my university, I want to screen you. It is right. It is legitimate. It is proper.
As it were now, if rot sets into the post-UME test, it would be easier to manage. The VC of a particular university knows that he has a job in his hands. His officers that are getting their hands greased can easily be removed or changed.

So, to my mind, it is easier to manage that kind of problem than rot in a centralized system. All over the world, it is easier to manage when you decentralize. If any form of malpractice creeps in, it can be solved easily and sustained.