Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has called for immediate reform of the public basic education system, saying Nigeria has no functional education system.
She said this while delivering the 30th Convocation Lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB), Abeokuta, held last Saturday.
Speaking on the title of the lecture ‘Education System and Youth Development’, Ezekwesili, urged the Federal Government to address the depreciating standard of foundational education in the country.
The former education minister noted that nine out of ten children cannot achieve proficiency in literacy at the basic education level.
She, therefore advised scholars and other stakeholders in the education industry to address the ugly trend so as to lay a solid foundation for quality products that would be useful at both secondary and tertiary levels.
Ezekewsili, equally the new holders of Doctor of Philosophy Degrees of the institution use the knowledge acquired in various fields of specialization to lead the crusade for the much-needed reform in the public basic education.
She added, “We don’t have a functional education system these days because the education is not programmed to meet the needs of the country.”
The former Vice President of the World Bank, submitted further that the reform must include a total review of basic education curriculum and proper funding of basic public education by the tiers of government.
She attributed the challenge of insecurity in the country to the lack of access to functional public primary education by the children of the poor, whose parents cannot afford quality basic education being enjoyed by the children of the middle class in private schools.
“Funding of public basic education by government at all levels is the most important in the education sector, not tertiary education,” the former minister added.
She admonished the 2,823 graduates and post-graduates including 16 Post Graduate Diploma holders, 215 Master’s Degree holders and 113 PhD holders to prepare themselves for global competition in a highly challenging and competitive environment.
President Bola Tinubu who is a visitor of the school, expressed the commitment of his administration to ensuring the provision of qualitative education at all levels.
FUNAAB Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olusola Kehinde, equally called on the graduands to be partners in the development of their alma mata by complimenting the infrastructural development in the institution.
