Education

We must cultivate good maintenance culture in public schools — Don

A former Dean of the School of Transport and Logistics, Lagos State University(LASU) Ojo, Professor Samuel Odewunmi, has advised the government at all levels as well as the school administrators and teachers to bring the good maintenance culture and value system back to schools at all levels in the country.

Doing this, he said, would greatly help the country in protecting school infrastructures and also enhancing quality teaching and learning.

Odewunmi gave the advice as a guest lecturer at the second edition of the annual lecture and award series of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Lagos State Wing, held in Ikeja on Saturday.

He spoke on “Stakeholders’ Role in Public Schools Infrastructure: Closing the Gap and Decadence.”

According to him, it is not enough to be agitating for the government to provide functional infrastructures such as classrooms, offices, computers, access roads, water supply, laboratories, electricity supply and so forth in schools and also canvassing for private sector participation in that regard, without thinking about how the users will well protect those facilities.

He explained that apart from the fact that most public schools, especially at primary and secondary levels across the country, have poor and dilapidated infrastructures that inhibit quality teaching and learning, another major problem is that of poor maintenance culture on the part of the government and the end-users of those facilities.

He said it is worrisome that most people don’t want to take responsibility when it comes to the maintenance of public property, and this observation cuts across the public sector and not only schools.

Giving example of school environment, the guest lecturer said some students would deliberately vandalise tables and chairs and even ceiling and covert same to slate to play table tennis or do so in the name of hooliganism.

He said since disciplinary actions have been relaxed in schools nowadays due to “undue” civilisation unlike in the olden days when corporal punishment was awaiting erring or recalcitrant students, most students today damage school property with impunity because they know they wouldn’t be punished.

He said it is high time that while government should fix infrastructural deficit in public schools and ensure that its inspectorate agencies are also alive to their monitoring duties, good character and value system towards public property must always be preached to students and the school workers.

He, however, urged the Lagos State government and the state’s NUT to take the lead on the value reorientation crusade in schools, noting that other states would certainly join the train in the interest of quality education delivery in the country.

In his own lecture, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic Education, Lagos State, Mr Abolaji Abayomi, explained that the state government particularly in the last four years, has invested hugely not only in infrastructural facilities in schools but also in contents delivery, teachers capacity development, welfare as well as technology.

He said the efforts are yeilding great results as being shown in the excellence performance of students in WAEC conducted examination, and winnning of national and international awards for the state and the country by extension.

Abayomi, who spoke on “Delivery Quality Education Policy and Infrastructural Development,” said the state government would not rest on its oars but strive to make school environment more conducive to both learners and teachers and the other school workers.

In his welcome address, the NUT chairman, Lagos State, Mr Hassan Akintoye, explained that the essence of the annual lecture is to bring up one pressing and topical issue for discussion with a view to setting agenda for government and other relevant stakeholders to move the education sector forward.

He noted that this year’s focus, which is on infrastructures is on the premise that provision of good and functional infrastructural facilities in public schools would certainly drive quality education in and outside the state.

He, however, pointed out that the annual lecture is now being dedicated to honour the former National President of NUT, Mr Michael Alogba Olukoya for his immense contribution to the development of NUT, the teaching profession and the education sector generally.

He said Olukoya really made a huge impact while in office, noting that his legacies are what the successive leaders of the union at all levels are building on till today.

The honoree, Mr Olukoya, in his reponse, thanked the leadership of NUT Lagos State for honoring him with the public lecture, adding that the action is laudable.

While also commending the Lagos State government for its huge investment in education and on teachers in the state, Olukoya said he is particularly happy that NUT is waxing stronger each day.

He promised to continue to support the growth and development of the union in anyway he can.

In their own separate remarks, the state deputy governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tertiary Education, Dr Kasali Adeniran and the former commissioner for Education in the state, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo applauded NUT for comming up with the annual lecture.

While declaring that the theme of the discussion is harped and germane, they both acknowledged that schools having good and functional infrastructures would definitely boost quality education delivery anywhere globally.