Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Thursday called for urgent solution to the current problems bedeviling the education sector.
Atiku made the call in Abuja at a one-day Dialogue on Education, Good Governance and National Unity organised by the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA).
“The world is leaving us behind. Education is the key to our future, not oil, not solid minerals.
“For us to rapidly develop this country and improve the living standards of our people, we must focus on human capital development.
“It cannot be achieved through business as usual attitude in our educational system. We need to rethink what we are doing in, and with education’’, he said.
He also called for solutions to questions about the structure, ownership and funding of public schools.
“Should we focus on numerical increases of our schools or consider merging and growing existing ones?’’, he retorted.
He also listed the use of modern technology such as computers, e-books and e-libraries to improve teaching and learning, and to reduce cost in line with international best practices.
The former vice president said that education should be the responsibility of states and local governments with the Federal Government setting standards and ensuring enforcement.
Atiku, however, said unity colleges must stop localisation if they intended to remain federally owned.
“We must go back to the vision and mission of the unity schools; move students and teachers of the unity schools outside their region to foster brotherhood and nationhood. We need that now more than ever before.’’
He urged institutions of learning to mobilise and develop their alumni associations and get them to assist the schools that helped and nurtured them to achieve success in life.
Atiku urged citizens and corporate organisations to contribute to building education to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
In a goodwill message, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, said all Nigerians had a great role to play in charting a new course for the country’s education sector.
Abubakar said education had continued to regress and urged stakeholders to explore ways of saving the sector from heading for the rocks.
According to him, the matter had gone beyond leaving it in the hands of Federal Government and ASUU alone.
The President-General of USOSA, Alhaji Muhammadu Koko, said the dialogue was to seek input to the national search for a generally acceptable way of moving Nigeria forward.
He added that the search included the quest for qualitative/affordable education, good governance and national unity.
Koko said the unity of Nigeria was more threatened today than any other time.
“Our pursuit of unity will remain elusive if young Nigerians are not continuously brought up to learn and play in their formative years with their fellows from other parts of the world’’, he added.
Former Ministers of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili and Dr Chinwe Obaji and many other dignitaries, attended the conference.
