In Peril

There is no arguing about the fact that the government is merely paying lip service to the development of education. It is true that a lot of money is being spent on the education sector but with little or no impact felt by the people, except where we want to deceive ourselves.

Many schools run by the government, which were formerly known for academic excellence have suddenly lost their prestige and are living on past glories. No wonder, many parents and guardians are threateningly left with only one option, to withdraw their wards from these schools to other ones that are better managed.

The evidences to show that the government is not doing enough to assist in the development of education are many. Even pupils in both primary and secondary schools can volunteer a good list on their finger tips.

One of the numerous indications is the government’s inability to pay running cost to schools. The running cost is the token amount per pupil paid to school administrators to run the affairs of the school in a term. This has been neglected to pile up for several academic sessions.

Another one is the regular poor conduct of terminal examinations. These examinations are not usually conducted as and when due. The government may have one excuse or the other, but real educationists know that appropriate timing is a strong factor in the process of Continuous Assessment (CA) of students.

Thus, a situation, where for instance, the first term examination is shifted to second term is an outright departure from the norms and ethics of Continuous Assessment.

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This was a section of Section C in a comprehensive passage of the English Language examination conducted by the Ogun state Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for the Unified Examination in Public Secondary Schools for the third term of the 2014/2015 academic session. The summary passage was said to have been culled from Jola Adegbenro’s "Issues on Education Today".

But for the State governor and some other top government officials, this did not go down well. They were allegedly angry with this section, which they believed made a veiled reference to what obtained in the state. Consequently, six officials of that ministry who superintended over those exam questions were invited to Abeokuta last week to face a disciplinary panel set up by the state Bureau of Establishment and Training, where they were quizzed.

Those invited were two Grade Level 17 officers, Folashade Oresegun, who was the Director, Education Support Services, and Rotimi Odunsi, who was the Director, Curriculum Development and Evaluation, and a Grade Level 16 officer, Majekodunmi Oluwole. Others were a Grade Level 10 officer, E.O. Asegbe, a Grade Level 8 officer, Taylor Damilola and an English Language teacher in Mayflower Secondary School, Ikenne, Joel Adegbenro.

Acting on executive orders, apparently, they were all dismissed. All six.

The government's final word?

“The decision [to dismiss them] was in line with the civil service rule, due process was followed to the latter.” Latter oo, latter.

The lesson? Tell the truth at your peril. You and your career.

Progress and growth will forever elude us if those who tell the truth are sacrificed on the altar of bootlicking and eye-service. If this is the path we desire to tread, if the facts make us so perturbed that rather than work to improve, we conspire to silence truth, then perdition awaits in no distant time. Sour grapes will be the harvest. My teeth is already on edge.

#MiffedThursday

(credits to newmail-ng.com for details about the story)