By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi.
Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa has stressed the need for stakeholders in the education sector to look into the degenerating educational system in the country with a view to restructuring it to meet competing demands.
Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa at the annual national convention of Bauchi Teachers College Old Students Association (BATCOSA) held in Bauchi, called on Nigerians generally to put hands together towards ensuring that the lost glory of the Nigerian Education System is restored.
“The degenerating circumstances of the education system in Nigeria are something that we must have to do something about”.
The Chief Whip, who assured to convey to the Speaker about the deteriorating structure of the Bauchi Teachers College, now General Hassan Usman Katsina Unity College (GHUKUC), congratulated BATCOSA for organizing a successful annual convention.
The Chairman of the occasion, Senator Adamu Ibrahim Gumba has in a keynote address recalled that Bauchi Teachers College established in 1931 had in its stage drew students from the North Central and entire North Eastern Nigeria.
“The college has produced high quality teachers who have either trained others or are themselves eminent technocrats and politicians like Chief J.S. Tarka, Late Ali Shettima Munguno, Alhaji Garba Nadama, Senator Danjuma Goje and Rt. Hon Yakubu Dogara, among others.
Senator Adamu Gumba expressed optimism that policy-makers at the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Teachers Institute will not kill the recent recommendation for the restoration of Grade II Education championed by Provosts of Colleges of Education.
The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu also recently advocated for the re-introduction of teacher training colleges in the country, an advocacy considered by the BATCOSA convention as the missing link in the Nigerian education system culminating in today’s production of tutors as against teachers.
Gumba also advised the Bauchi state government to relocate the College of Education, Kangere to the present GHUKUC premises as against the former Adult and Non-formal Education Institute, and urged celebrities of the BATCOSA convention to get funds from education related NGOs to rehabilitate parts of the school when converted to college.
The out-going National President of BATCOSA, Aliyu Umar Misau had in a welcome address outlined the objectives of the association which included bringing past and present students of the college together to the social, academic and traditional status of the institution.
“Agreed, education is expensive, but if so, can we try ignorance, which is more expensive. The UNESCO advised governments at all levels to provide not less than 26% of their yearly budgets for education. What percentage do our governments provide today”, he queried.
Aliyu, a onetime registrar of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria however lauded the Bauchi state government for allocating about 20% of its 2016 budget to education, and expressed the hope that same will be released for the purpose with its repositioning of the sector for better performance.
The president noted that Nigeria has manmade problems such as Boko Haram, corruption, Niger Delta Avengers which he explained, are bye products of poor education, lack of patriotism, wrong concepts of religious teachings, stressing that, had the education policy was perfect and implemented properly, things would have changed for the better.
He called on Nigerians generally to defy all odds and join hands to see that Nigeria is on right track of development, as he enjoined government to declare war on social vices, indiscipline, ignorance, idleness and immorality as it did with Boko Haram and corruption.
Climax of the BATCOSA convention are the election of new executives led by Dauda Umar Abdulsalam, awards to its deserving members and the launching of the association calendar which fetched N340, 000 with the highest donation of N250, 000 from the chief launcher, Alhaji Mahmud Maijama’a.
