OUR REGRET FOR GOVERNOR SANWO-OLU AND THE POOR STATE OF LAGOS PUBLIC SCHOOLS – Samuel Olomu
Samuel Olumo in his write-up said Lagos state has failed to meet the needs of public schools in the state. The cases of inadequacies in the learning environment, as a result of overcrowding, poor infrastructure etc. Samuel Olomu wrote.
“In a situation where students are not comfortable in the process of learning, there will be poor assimilation and performance in examinations and even productivity after graduation. It will also make teachers find it very difficult to give adequate attention to individual students and the marking of their scripts, among other tasks. This was research conducted by an expert. And in reality, this is the condition of public schools in Lagos.”
”It is no longer a gain to say that Lagos state has failed to meet the needs of public schools in the state. There are cases of inadequacies in the learning environment as a result of overcrowding, poor infrastructure, scarce learning materials and insufficient availability of schools to meet the demand of a growing population in some areas of the state. Public education in Lagos state is similarly underfunded to the rest of Nigeria, with only 12.07 percent of the state’s 2018 budget allocated to education, though this was later increased to 17% under the Akinwunmi Ambode administration in 2019.”
”In the absence of public schools in many areas of Lagos state and with high student attendance levels, the establishment of private schools has skyrocketed. Many poor parents who cannot afford to send their children to private schools have done so because of the implication that arises from sending their wards to overpopulated and underfunded schools where they learn nothing.”
A case study is the Local Government Primary School, Igando, Alimoso Local Government, one of the most populous areas in the country. The school was founded in 1953 and it remains the only public primary school around the Oba Axis in Igando, which is far away from some other people in different areas who are not close to the school.
Recently, I watched a video of Olorunfemi School at Idimu, which has been the greatest prompt for me in writing this piece. The small classroom in the school houses hundreds of students, some sitting on the table, some on the window sill, and some standing with their notes in their hands. I don’t know how these students will learn in such a disturbed and tampered environment as this. Aside from the uneasiness in learning, health-wise, children are also prone to different contagious diseases as a result of the congested environment. My heart aches for the future of these students.
The Lagos state government is jeopardizing the likelihood of a brighter future by not giving these students the best learning environment, which will aid good performance.
Regrettably, the majority of Lagos public schools lack essential amenities like water, electricity and toilet facilities, and so there is an urgent need for the state government to provide these schools with necessary amenities and ensure their safety by giving them a secure and safe environment for learning, which originally was the sole responsibility of the government as specified in Chapter II, Fundamental Objective and Directive Principles of State Policy, section 14 (2) (b), which states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of the government.” And I do not see anyone to be held accountable for the lack of essential amenities in Lagos schools if not the government.
Moreover, the Lagos State government has failed the people of Lagos State by failing to provide them with the basic education needed. I do not see any reason why the Lagos State Governor, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, should be surprised to see two young girls who are supposed to be in school wandering the streets in a viral video. This is something he should have taken care of. Aside from the fact that the parents of these young girls may not have the financial capability to send them to school, the failed educational system, which is postulated by overcrowding, poor infrastructure, and lack of proximity to schools, might have imprinted the bad notion of “school na scam” in them.
To this end, the Lagos state public school sector needs revolution and the governor should be responsible for lifting the flag by implanting immeasurable improvement in the quality of physical infrastructure and facilities in the system at all levels of education in the state with the provision of classrooms, furniture, laboratories, provision of water and other required amenities needed by schools.
