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More than 7,000 private schools are operating in Lagos State, Nigeria’s centre of commerce, without formal approval by the state government.
BusinessDay findinga show that out of about 12,000 private schools in all, in the state, less than 5,000 have the approval of the government, while the rest operate illegally, unable to meet guidelines set by the state ministry of education to secure approval.
In spite of the illegal status of these schools, the government, however, has been unable to weed them from the system, owing to what a source described as “connections here and there”. But while this lasts, the pupils, students and parents are short-changed, as the quality of teachings in these unapproved schools does not match the exorbitant fees charged.
The implication also is that pupils and students in the affected schools are denied the privilege of sitting for common entrance or senior secondary examinations in their schools. It was gathered that the pupils/students are often moved to write such examinations in other schools, a development that could have some psychological effect on the students.
Investigations reveal that in most of the mushroom schools, the management engages unqualified persons, mostly holders of Senior Secondary School Certificates (SSC) as teachers.
Among the conditions required to register a nursery/primary school in the state, are to have purpose built structures with building plans and certificate of occupancy, five classrooms for a start, library, sick bay with two beds, functional ICT suite with internet service, well stocked first aid box, science laboratory, staff room, sizeable multi-purpose hall that can be used for in-door games, functional stand-by generator, inverter and solar power.
The proprietor of such school is further expected to engage at least five qualified teachers in all classes, with teaching assistants in all nursery classes, eight toilets with W/C, and certificates of medical fitness of food vendors, and playground among others.
For a private secondary school, the proprietor is required in addition to the above, to provide nine special rooms for a start, physics, chemistry and biology laboratories, home economics room, fine arts studio, basic technology workshop, school hall, principal’s office, staff room, minimum of four fire extinguishers, stand-by generator, football field access within 500 metres radius, among others.
Idiat Oluranti Adebule, Lagos State deputy governor, who doubles as commissioner for Education, confirmed during a recent media briefing, the number of approved private schools in the state.
“A new edition of guidelines for registering private schools in Lagos State was produced and published, to guide all stakeholders on the requirements and how to go about meeting them. All the 4,920 approved schools have been published on the ministry’s website,” said Adebule.
An official of the state Ministry of Education anonymously admitted the existence of thousands of unapproved schools, saying the government refused to approve them because they failed to meet the requirements, yet cannot stop their operations because some of the proprietors are connected.
The source said apart from this, the state government is cautious because available public schools in the state cannot accommodate the growing population of children in the state. “So we encourage them to come forward and register rather than operating illegally.”
It would be recalled that Sarah Sosan, former deputy governor of Lagos (who also presided over the education ministry) tried ridding the state of unregistered/illegal mushroom schools, but met resistance by some powerful groups, forcing her to abandon the sanitisation exercise.
Sosan who served between 2007 and 2011 when exiting, had said her greatest regret was that people she expected to support her resolve to sanitise the sector, turned against her and resisted her patriotic concern about the poor quality education offered in most of the private schools in the state.
JOSHUA BASSEY
