Engr. Umar Bello Aderehi, gave a wide-ranging online presentation on Saturday night via Ebira Online-News whatsapp group which highlight the need for Free Education in Ebiraland.
Read his presentation;
Free
Education simply means education that is funded through government spending or
charitable organizations rather than tuition funding.
In other
words, free education is education that is solely funded by the government
without any form of tuition fee payment by the people that is being taught.
Many models
of free education at various levels of education have been proposed. Primary
school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in many
countries. This may not include textbooks as well as certain administrative and
sundry fees
In Nigeria today, basic education is compulsory, that is no matter your class in the society, it is expected that you must acquire that basic education. This also applies to Ebiraland as part of Kogi state.
The
situation of the economy today has forced many school aged children to drop out
of school.
This account
for the large number of out school children that are currently roaming the
street in Ebiraland
There is
therefore the urgent need for the government to make education free in Kofi
state and Ebiraland in particular to be able to bring the out of school
population back to school
All children, no matter where they live or
what their circumstances are, have the
right to quality and free education
The fact
that most parents cannot afford the rising cost of education is gradually
widening the illiteracy net in Ebiraland and Kogi state as a whole. To arrest
this situation, government at all level especially those in charge of the basic
education should made education free so that no matter the class in the
society, every child have access to basic education. The constitution the
Federal Republic of Nigeria states that: Government shall strive to eradicate
illiteracy and to this end Government shall as and when practicable provide
a. Free,
compulsory and universal primary education
b. Free
secondary education
c. Free
university education and
d. Free
adult literacy program
That's
section 18(3) of the 1999 constitution precisely. With the above provision, it
is obligatory upon the government to make education at all level free to
eradicate illiteracy. But our major concern here is that of primary and universal
education and free secondary education.
This policy
of Fred Education especially in Ebiraland will ensure that there is education
for all and it will therefore reduce the high number of out of school children
in Ebiraland.
Another
important issue that must be addressed when we are discussing free education is
the quality of education which cannot be achieved with the present rate of
decline in the number of trained teachers in our primary and secondary schools
in Ebiraland.
Education in Ebiraland must be made
free to take the burden from the parents. This will ensure That all children
get educated freely under government funding from primary school up to at least
secondary school
Parents too
must ensure that their wards are enrolled into primary and secondary schools as
failure to do so is an offence under the Nigerian constitution.
As it is
today in Ebiraland, most parents cannot send their wards or children to school
because not all parents can afford the high cost of the private schools that
have taken over the primary and secondary school system. If education is made
free by the government and of good quality, no parent will undergone the
trouble of sending their children to school.
There is no
better time we can advocate for free education in Ebiraland than now due to a
combination of factors.
The biting
economic situation is a thing of great concern to many as most parents can no
longer fulfil the obligation of school fees or tuition fees of their wards
Acute
shortage of teachers in most of our schools has forced many parents to opt for
private schools.
In the light
of the above factors, Education in Ebiraland should be made free and the
quality of education in both primary and secondary schools should be standard
like what obtains elsewhere.
I believe if
free and quality education is offered in our schools in Ebiraland, most of the
substandard private schools will die a natural death
That is why
I opined earlier that for free education to work, there is need to look into
the declining figure of teachers and their welfare
Actually for
free education to stand, proper remuneration and recruitment is key
Together we
shall reform Ebiraland.
I remain
your humble brother, Umar Bello Adarehi