Atiku wants emergency declared on education

Abubakar Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has asked the government to urgently declare an emergency on education, saying the system is in serious crisis.

Delivering the closing remarks at the 10th National Programme of Commemoration of the late Shehu Musa Yar'Adua on Saturday in Abuja, Atiku said education was critical to the development of any nation.

"In a globalize world in which knowledge has become the mainstay of most economies, any society that does not equip its citizens with the tools and means of life-long learning will be seriously handicapped", Atiku said.

"The Nigerian educational system is in crisis and it is in need of an emergency declaration. The statistics are frightening and embarrassing. About 7.3 million of the estimated 60 million children in this country, according to a recent survey, are not in school not because they do not want to be but because of poverty and the inadequacy of available opportunities.  What do we do about those who have been left behind?", Atiku asked.

He said the question becomes even more poignant when one realizes that of the over 12 million children entering primary schools each year, only five million make it to secondary schools.  And of the five million, he added, about a million students write JAMB every year, competing for space in a higher education system that can only take a little over 250,000 each year. 

"Again, I ask:  What do we do about those left behind?"

The former Vice President said Nigeria must ensure that no child is left behind. "We must ensure that every child counts. We must as a matter of urgency expand opportunities and provide greater access to education for millions of our people. We must also improve the quality of education by raising budgetary allocation to education, providing conducive environment for learning, improving the quality of teaching, and ensuring that the content and structure of our educational system remain dynamic".

Atiku called for radical reform of the nation's educational system by making it sustainable, locally relevant and internationally competitive.  "It must be accessible, equitable, qualitative and capable of imparting functional and life-long skills.  All tiers of government must realize that any country which does not invest a lot of resources, energies and time on education or human capital development is doomed", he concluded.