•FCT minister, Nyesom Wike
The woeful performance of the FCT-owned public schools and orphanage pupils in Abuja in a recent Spelling Bee competition has prompted calls for the raising of education standards in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Project Hope Spelling Bee Season 5 put together by Paraclete Hope Foundation, in collaboration with Helpline Social Support Initiative, saw pupils and students from the public schools, orphanage and private schools in the FCT coming together to spell and win prizes at different categories.
At the end of the competition, all the winners were from the private schools and no single FCT-owned school came closer to the winning categories, reports Daily Trust.
Judging from the results of the well-attended competition, educationists have a common opinion that public schools and kids from the orphanages in the FCT still have a long way to go as the difference between the contestants in terms of ability to spell was sadly obvious.
Why FCT public schools are falling in standard
An Abuja-based educationist, Taiwo Ojulari, attributed the falling standard among schools in FCT to a long-term neglect by the relevant authorities.
He said as of today, many schools in the FCT, especially primary and secondary schools, have no adequate teachers.
He said the situation was worrisome in schools outside the Abuja city centre.
He said in some of the schools, including the Junior Secondary Schools, one teacher takes five subjects with close to 100 pupils in a class.
“How do you expect students from such schools to compete with those in private schools that are, in most cases, well equipped?’’ he asked.
The educationist said some of them had intervened in the past by writing to the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (FCT UBEB) on the need to recruit qualified teachers in some of these schools but without response.
“Our thought initially was that with the coming of Nyesom Wike as the FCT minister, this anomaly will be immediately corrected but close to his two years in office now, he has not given approval for the recruitment of teachers into these schools,’’ he said.
The educationist called on relevant stakeholders, especially the media, to continue to dwell on some of these problems so that those in authority can know the real situation in some of these schools.
Also speaking, a retired principal, Dr Ahmed Yahaya, described the situation at the public schools in the FCT as terrible.
“If you go to some of these schools, especially those in the rural areas, apart from the near absence of teachers, the conditions of the classrooms are scary. I can bet you, no child, not even an adult, can learn meaningfully under such conditions,’’ he said.
Dr Ahmed said many public schools in the FCT have no instructional materials that can aid learning among the pupils.
He pleaded with FCT UBEB to do the needful and get the permission of the FCT minister to recruit more teachers for the public schools.
A teacher in one of the schools, who craved anonymity, attributed the poor performances of pupils in public schools, especially in primary schools, to industrial instability in the recent months.
He said public primary schools in the nation’s capital have been shut due to the teachers’ strike.
She said, ‘’You know, since December last year, academic activities at the public primary schools in FCT here have not been stable due to the strike by the teachers.
‘’You remember these children did not even write their second term examinations and since the beginning of this third term, they have been at home. So, how do you expect a child from such circumstance to compete with those that have stable academic calendar and probably with more teachers.’’
The teachers have been on strike since March over the non-implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage and other arrears owed them by the six area councils’ chairmen.
The chairmen, last week, commenced the implementation of the new wage but the teachers insisted that their arrears, running into seven months, must be paid before they would return to their classes.
Why we have not recruited teachers – FCT UBEB
In a telephone chat with our correspondent yesterday, the Chairman of the FCT UBEB, Dr Hassan Sule, admitted that there is a need to recruit more teachers into the public schools because there has been an increase in the number of enrolments into the schools.
He attributed the delay in the recruitment to the implementation of the new minimum wage for the teachers, which according to him was not captured in the budget.
He said, “We can’t be talking about recruiting new teachers when the existing ones are on strike over the new wage and other arrears.
“I can assure you that when we resolve some of these issues, we will start the recruitment of more teachers.’’
He said in the interim, there were some teachers that were employed by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and they are assisting in some of these schools.
No sector will be neglected – Wike
Meanwhile, the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, has assured that no sector, including education, would be neglected.
The minister has been under intense criticisms for only focusing on the road infrastructure, neglecting other critical sectors like education, health and sanitation.
But the minister while inspecting ongoing rural road construction projects from A2 to Pai, and the Aguma Palace in the Gwagwalada and Kwali area councils of the FCT, admitted that there were more to be done in the education sector but said the administration had started by renovating not less than 60 schools across the territory.
“We’ve done a lot of work in schools. We have renovated and furnished more than 60 schools. But I can tell you, no sector will be left abandoned,’’ the minister said.
