Column Gust: Proliferation Of Private Schools In Jos: A Curse Not Blessing

 By Sadeeq Sabo

Sadeeq Sabo

On Thursday, August 4th, 2022, the Plateau state ministry of education via its commissioner (secondary) Mrs Elizabeth P. Wapmuk, announced that it has deregistered all private schools in the state with effect from 28th July 2022. According to the commissioner, the exercise is to ensure two things: to maintain the standard and quality of education in the state and to checkmate the proliferation of illegal and mushroom schools.

The commissioner said that the quality assurance mandate requires all private schools to renew their operating license after five years but that hasn't been done for several years. She also revealed that records available to the ministry showed that over 5000 schools in the state are operating without a license. To improve and ensure quality is maintained, the ministry deemed it necessary to deregister all private schools in the state so as to ascertain the duly registered ones are the only schools operating in the state. The registered schools are required to submit their licenses which would be checked and issued new ones while those that fall short of quality and standard wouldn't be given renewal license until their quality is met. While those operating without a license shall be closed permanently until they get duly registered.

As a resident of Jos, I can attest to the above report of having many unregistered private schools and fully endorse the decision to close them. Proliferation of private schools in Jos has become a curse instead of the blessing it should ordinarily be. Not just schools, even hospitals, clinics and dispensaries, we seem to have a knack for illegal stuff in this part of the world. As it is the tradition with freewheeling, it is bound to abuse if it is left unchecked and that's the sad reality of our private schools. Every Tom, Dick and Harry can just decide to open a school, get a handful of unqualified teachers, parents and guardians sheepishly enrol their wards and boom, another school has sprang up and a problem has been added to the already existing ones.

Although, proliferation of private schools has an ugly history especially in Jos, here, and the government is partly culpable, also. There was a deliberate attempt to deeducate a certain segment of the Jos residents during the height of the crises that engulfed Jos for years just like the economic angle when the Jos main market was bombed. Public schools were not funded, teachers were not sent and new schools were not built for years despite our population explosion.

It's a natural human instinct to create a solution where problems are identified and this led to the proliferation of private schools that we are grappling with in Jos today. For instance, when one takes a survey of public primary and secondary schools in Jos for instance, they are not close to being sufficient commensurate to the populace. In the whole of Gangare for instance, we have just G.S.S Gangare to cater for all the students there, G.S.S Anguwan Rogo to cater for Anguwan Rogo/Rimi Zinariya, G.S.S Township to cater for people from Sarkin Arab, Vandapuye, Islamiyya Pilot Science school to cater for Abba Nasheshu, G.S.S Chwenyap to cater for Nasarawa axis. These are just a few schools to cater for a very large population. So it is common sense to find an alternative since the government wasn't ready to do the needful perhaps because of the attitude of the people.

Ideally, there are departments under the ministry of education saddled with the responsibility to register, monitor and regulate these private institutions of learning since the government cannot provide for the education needs of all its citizenry. There's bound to have the private sector in the business of education. However, private education should ordinarily be a luxury for any parents or guardians who wish to take their wards to private schools but the reverse became the what is obtainable in our own case. The private schools became more accessible and even more affordable since there was no much quality. These ministry officials saw the springing up of private schools as an opening to enrich themselves hence the introduction of bogus, ambiguous and in certain cases, duplicatory forms and fees since they know the schools are not duly registered so they couldn't resist the threat but succumb and caved in to the demands of these corrupt ministry officials.

Education now, looking at those practices enabled by the government nonchalance, became a venture where everyone with the resources and some rooms even without a background or Interest can take a plunge into and start operating a school. This is what brought us to this quagmire. Now here's the catch: some irresponsible parents and students have seen a shortcut. The students don't have to study hard to get promoted to the higher class as most of the schools don't even demote or repeat students that have performed below the minimum requirements because of the fear that the students might leave the school to another of their choice. Problem number one. During external examinations for school leaving certificate, the students, having been accustomed to the mindset that they're going to be "helped" by their teachers and Schools in connivance with corrupt external examination body's officials don't deem it fit to prepare for these examinations after all, who waste their time studying when you can buy your way out? Problem number two.

The syllabus and curriculum provided by the government which are usually the reference to setting external examinations are not followed by these private schools. They formulate their own with the help of private curriculum and syllabus setters who also write textbooks to go with these curriculum and syllabus not approved by the government or its officials saddled with that job. Even the academic sessions differed from those of the public schools and those of the private ones. The government directive was to close schools in July but as I write, there are schools that are yet to do their speech and prize giving Day. Problem number three.

The way out

Much as we are aversed to anything authority, we must have faith in them. We must learn to trust them where necessary. Any society that plays with the education and health needs of its people, that society is at the brink of social collapse. Education and health is not the business of every charlatan. Private practice in these sectors must be in the hands of those with passion and can conform to the rigours and quality assurance and of course standards.

Government must rise to its responsibility of providing these services and where it is overstretched, strengthen its regulatory mechanisms to ensure compliance. Our people must know that they're doing themselves more harm than good in this half-baked of a self-help they have embarked upon. Do not take your ward to any school that does not have an appreciable quality in terms of facilities and teaching else we will continue having secondary school leavers with flying colour certificates that cannot get them into higher institutions of learning and in case they miraculously scale there, get phased out because of poor performance and lack of stamina to stand the academic rigours of higher institutions. I have seen quite a number of secondary school leavers whom cannot write a simple sentence or read a paragraph fluently and I can bet my last two nickles that they are products of these mushroom private schools.