FG Urged to Review Implementation of Education Policy

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A former Head of Service of the Federation, Prof. Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, has urged the Federal Government to take a holistic approach to review the implementation of education policy in the country.

Afolabi said the review became imperative in order to have a good quality education and a good quality skill set that will serve the country’s labour market.

He disclosed this weekend while speaking with journalists at the graduation ceremony of KIA Lakeside Academy, Abuja.

The former Head of Service, who is also the Board Chairman of the school, said  KIA Lakeside Academy was established in 2008, adding that the school has the best teachers that give dedicated attention to students.

He said: “You can see from the JAMB results, the lowest number was 272. That shows the  quality of the school. I will say we are proud of the school, we are proud of the input.”

Afolabi recommended that the Federal Government should expend more energy on the quality of the universities in the country.

He said: “When you go to a good quality secondary school and you have a very poor quality university, you won’t go there. This is why you have  many students that are going ‘Japa’ (schooling abroad). It is because they’re looking for good quality. Sometimes they miss it, because it’s the name of the country that they go for, they don’t know what is inside. Some of our universities are better than some of the ones they go to abroad.

“So, we need to do some real work. I hope this new government will pay attention to tertiary institutions, so that the good universities will have a demand for good secondary school products.

“In a  way, government will take a holistic way to review the way we are implementing our education policy, and review the education policy in a way that we have good quality education, good quality skill set that will serve our labour.”

While speaking on taxation of schools, Afolabi noted that new schools should be given tax holiday, while schools that have been in existence for a reasonable of years should pay tax.

According to him, “New schools should be given tax holidays but when your school is matured to pay tax, you should pay appropriately.  But by the time you are producing really good quality students, you can use the performance of the students to give tax rebates.”

Earlier, the school Principal, Mr. William Pope, said he was overwhelmed because the school that started in a little way has now become big.

He said while the school has been through ups and downs, the management has been able to build the core values of the school.

On his part, the keynote speaker, Mr. Tope Fashedemi, said while the graduands have spent a lot of time in the classrooms, learning mathematics, economics and languages of the West, the most important lessons they have learnt would not be from the textbooks but from their interactions with people.

He added: “During this period of your stay in school, you would have experienced upside and the downside, you would have learned perseverance, you would have succeeded in some tasks, you would have failed in other tasks, not winning targets. You must have learned what it means to fall, to fail and to rise again to give it another shot.

“These are all important lessons that will serve you well in your journey into adulthood. As you put your head in this life journey, never forget all the foundational lessons that you had during this stage of your life.”