LAGOS—GOVERNOR Bukola Saraki of Kwara State has advocated a quality-control body to regulate standard of secondary education in the country.
At a dinner to mark the 95th Anniversary of the King’’s College Old Boys’ Association in Lagos, Governor Saraki said such plan was necessary to stem the decline in quality of graduates produced by Nigerian universities.
The governor who decried the declining quality of university graduates which he blamed on the quality of secondary education, advised other states to take a cue from Kwara State by making secondary education the main focus of their education development policy.
“I am not saying that mass literacy at the primary level is not important, but if we intend to ensure quality, whether at the tertiary level or even primary level, you have to target secondary education, because you cannot hope to have quality NCE or graduate teachers with a bad secondary education””, the governor said.
Governor Saraki, an alumnus of the college, expressed appreciation to the principal and staff for keeping faith with the collective heritage of the school and for ensuring that King’s College remains a front-runner in the country.
Dr Saraki, who was made an “old boy of honour”” by the college commended the efforts of the executive committee on the launching of the association’s website as well as the contributions of Chief Audu Ogbeh and the Presidency in providing some additional buildings for the college.
Dr Saraki appealed to other “old boys” to take pride in the college’s heritage and be prepared to strive hard to keep it strong, declaring that, “The King’s College was for our parents, it was for us and it would be for our children””.
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh asked the Federal Government to establish a National Secondary School Commission, like the National University Commission with sufficient operational powers.
Chief Ogbeh said the commission has a role to play because it is now cumbersome for the Federal Ministry of Education to fully supervise some 80 Federal Government Colleges spread across the country. Establishment of the Commission, the PDP Chairman argued, would assist the ministry to concentrate on its traditional role of articulation and implementation of education policies and development of new educational frameworks.
Chief Ogbeh also advocated a separate governing board for each college charged with full powers for administering, financing and academic matters, adding that appointments, promotions and discipline of staff should be the sole responsibility of the board.
The board, he said, should include a few distinguished old boys of the college and a member of the PTA whose appointment should be non-political.
