By Abbanobi – Eku Onyekachi
The proprietor of Starlight Education Centre in Madala, Niger State, Dr. Ene Wannaji, has flayed the Senate for budgeting for what he described as meagre amount allocated to the education sector.
President Ahmed Tinubu has in 2023 presented to the Senate as 2024 budget, the summon of N27.5 trillion, and after having gone through it, was passed into law as the 2024 budget by the red chamber and the sum of N1.54 trillion, was.allocated to the education sector, repressing 6.39 percent of the total budget. This the school proprietor faulted in its entirety.
In a press release he made available to some media organisations on Tuesday, the educationalist accused the senate and the entire National Assembly members of not showing any legislative commitment towards education, just as he reiterated that they have passed poor budgetary allocation to education and shown little or no over sight in the implementation of the meagre allocation.
“Today, school fees in all federal and state owned schools from secondary to tertiary have more than doubled and the legislature is unconcerned. Standard of education has fallen bellow acceptable level and we watch and over look.
Teachers’ salaries and other rights are objects of politics. Any time teachers are paid any of their many rights, it makes news as if they are favoured. The National Assembly knows this and yet watch with negligent abandon. Indeed, the rate of crime and criminality is directly consequent upon the standard and kind of education we dish out.
Believing that various chambers of National Assembly are aware and are do nothing about that, James Ene Wannaji therefore noted with dismay that graduates were just not employable and the skill component of their training which could have filled the gap was conspicuously absent.
Beckoning the legislators and other arms of government to stop treating the private schools without regard, he said: “For the private sector, the contributions of that sector of education is completely ignored. No legislation to support privately owned educational institutions be they basic, high or tertiary education.
“To worsen the already bad situation, the proprietors are under heavy tax burden.
To be candid, the National Assembly has not decided to rescue our education system.”
****
