ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE FAILURE OF THE POLICY
ERC Calls on the Osun State Government to Reverse
the Policy Immediately
ERC Stands
Against Religious Division But for A United Campaign to Resist School Mergers
PRESS STATEMENT
The Education Rights Campaign (ERC)
hereby calls on the Osun State Government to immediately reverse its
counter-productive policy of school closure and merger. We make this call
moreso now that evidence shows that the policy threatens to lead to religious
tension and chaos. Indeed in certain towns and villages of Osun State, this policy which consists of
arbitrary closure and merger of schools could provoke ethnic tension and
crisis. In recent times, Osun state people have been known to live together in
peace and harmony. Any government policy that seeks to unsettle this state of
affairs have to be vehemently resisted.
We must quickly point out that as a
group involved in education campaigns over the last 10 years, the ERC is very
much aware that to revamp Nigeria's collapsed and degenerate public education
system, radical, painful and perhaps inconvenient changes and alterations might
be necessary. However this has to be done by democratically involving people in
the debates leading to such decisions. This is missing in the Osun state school
reclassification policy which is why the ERC considers the policy as
undemocratic. Before the policy was
announced, the real representatives of the stakeholders in the schools like
teachers, parents, students and communities were consulted. When consultations
were eventually done, it was after the policy had been announced and they were
done in such a way that it was obvious that the government had already made up
its mind.
The ERC however frowns at the
seven-day ultimatum issued by the Osun State branch of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) over the merger of schools by the Aregbesola-led
Osun state government. While we welcome and are prepared to work with every
genuine opposition to the bankrupt and chaotic education policy of the state
government, especially as relating to unwarranted merger of schools, we are
totally opposed to dividing the mass of the working people on the basis of
religion.
Worth stating also is the fact that
the religious degeneration of the issue confirms the bankruptcy of this merger
policy, which adds nothing but chaos to education in the state. This is made
worse by the undemocratic manner this merger policy is being implemented
without democratic discussion and agreement by most stakeholders including
teachers, students, parents and communities.
The Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) in Osun state is opposing the merger of Muslim students with former
Christian missionary schools, while also calling for the maintenance of the
archaic and divisive colonial heritage of the missionary schools. This aside
reversing the gains of public education system, may also degenerate the
overwhelming anger against the obnoxious education policy of the state
government into religious crisis. For instance, one can only imagine what will
happen if groups of another religious faith take a different position to that
of CAN. This can lead to unnecessary cacophony, which will give government
opportunity to divert genuine agitation to selfish end.
Also, we are totally opposed to the
position of the CAN which tends to suggest that public schools, already taken
over from private missionary owners are still under the ownership and control
of church and religious groups. This is an attempt to suggest that these
schools can still be returned to former church owners who had been fully
compensated when the schools were taken over by the government. This will be
mere privatization of education at the expense of millions of working class
pupils and students. This will be worse than even the current merger chaos the
government is introducing. Evidence of horrible results of handover of public
schools to former missionary schools are visible in states such as Anambra.
Besides, the outrageous fees charged by virtually all faith-based private
schools at all levels have made them beyond the reach of the ordinary people
including members of the congregation. We are also perturbed that the Osun
State CAN is only concerned about the religious aspect and not the untold
hardship this merger policy will mean for parents, students and teachers. This
is clearly one-sided.
However, it needs to be pointed that
this religious degeneration of the issue further confirms the outright failure
of the school merger and reclassification policy of the Osun State government. This policy has only created
chaos and crisis in the education system in the state with rising drop in
school attendance and rise in truancy rate among pupils of both the primary and
secondary school pupils across the state. This is largely due to the placement
of the new schools at long distance from the residence of the students and
transfer of students schooling at schools close to their neigbourhoods to
schools which are very far from their residence. Many schools are already short
of facilities like furniture and enough classrooms due to this merger, as
schools where students are diverted are themselves in decrepit state. Moreover,
this crisis is causing avoidable loggerhead in schools.
Instead of further accelerating
illiteracy across the state, we of the ERC contend that Osun State government
should concentrate its efforts into renovating and expanding the existing
schools and furnishing them with libraries and laboratories. We also demand
building of new schools to cater for influx of private school students, who
will be attracted by genuine improvement in public education. Contrary to this,
the government has only jettisoned reason by playing to the gallery in
demolishing over several schools for mere 30 poorly-furnished and insufficient
"modern-day" structures. This is already reversing the little gains
in education.
What is urgently needed is a mass
united campaign against the obnoxious education policy of the Aregbesola
regime. Working people across Osun State must be prepared to build united action committees of parents, pupils,
teachers and community people, irrespective of their religious or ethnic
persuasion, to organize mass protest rallies to demand the reversal of the
policy. This must also be linked to the demand for democratic running of the
schools by elected representatives of the parents, teachers and the
communities.
Hassan
Taiwo Soweto Michael
Ogundele
National
Coordinator National Secretary
07033697259 07066249160
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