Group Drums Support for Public Schools, Pays Advocacy Visit to Commissioner for Tertiary Education
The leading pro-democracy group in Kwara State, Kwara Must Change has paid an advocacy visit to the Commissioner for Tertiary Education Science and Technology, Barr. Sulaiman Ibrahim Jnr.
The visit was to drum support to the group’s advocacy on public schools.
Leading the team, the coordinator for Gender and Women Affairs, Mopelola AbdulMaliq-Bashir briefed the Commissioner on the mission of the team, which is to get the buy-in of the Commissioner for their proposal to the Kwara State government on making it compulsory for all public officials to enrol their wards in public schools. Citing the benefit derivable from the proposal Mopelola said “it wouldn’t be in the best interest of the public for those who are paid to formulate policies for the smooth running of the state to now distance themselves from the benefits of the policies”.
She added that enrolling their wards in public schools would build public trust in government policies and Programme.
She also used the opportunity to appreciate the present administration on her investment in education. She singled out for commendation the efforts of the state government in repositioning tertiary education in Kwara State. In her words “what the government is doing in the state Polytechnic is worthy of commendation especially in the areas of infrastructure and human capital development”. She specifically mentioned the renovation of the hall that has been abandoned for close to twenty years and the ongoing renovation of another abandoned hostel project.
In his response, the Commissioner thanked the group for been a partner in progress. He also commended the group for considering his office for the honour.
Responding to the issues raised by the team, the Commissioner said” there is nothing as rewarding as having the children of every public official in public schools. However, the legal encumbrances must be critically looked into to avoid cutting our nose to spite our face. He said “what we can do for now is to give a time frame of say between now and two years to enable the government consider the implications of the proposal holistically”. He added that the time frame will also allow the government to work on the roots of the crises that led to the collapse of trust in public education.
On what the governnment is doing in the state owned tertiary institutions, the Commissioner noted that what the administration met on ground in most of the tertiary institutions in the state is unfortunate ” we met a system where individuals at the elms of affairs are acting contrary to the edicts that established the institutions. This, he said the administration has been able to nipped in the bud.
While thanking the Commissioner for the warm reception, Mopelola AbdulMaliq-Bashir enjoined the administration not to relent in the efforts to resucitate public education and bring public schools back to the path of glory that the state was once known for.
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