Rebuilding Nigeria’s Educational Foundation: Will State Of Emergency Help?

The United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) recently gave a damning report on education in Nigeria which confirms our worst fears that education had got to the final stages of decline; with the levity evidenced by the trajectory of our educational curve. In a recent report, UNICEF said that 35 percent of children aged 7 to 14 years in Nigeria could not read a simple sentence or solve a basic mathematics problem. The Representative of UNICEF in Nigeria, Ms Cristian Munduate disclosed this at the 2023 International Day of Education marked annually on January 24th. This year’s edition, with the theme “Invest in People, Prioritise Education” is dedicated to all the girls and women of Afghanistan, who have been denied their right to learn, study and teach.

January 24th every year is dedicated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to celebrate the role of education for peace and development. The UNGA is interested in inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, so as to achieve gender equality and break the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind. What really are some of the factors responsible for this dip and how can these be remedied? What steps can be taken to improve the performance of the putative “leaders of tomorrow”?

The Bible asks a germane rhetorical question where it says inter alia, “If the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The righteous should carry out research to discover factors responsible for the new low in our educational system. Some of the identified and obvious factors responsible for the dip in quality include lack of proper monitoring of the educational sector, uninspired students and in some cases laziness, demotivated teachers, preponderant poverty, aloofness of parents and the negative debilitating effects of “Boko Haram” activists who for close to one and a half decades now, have been campaigning that Western education is a scam amongst other factors.

On its part, UNICEF recommended the following steps to improve the sector and I concur into:

• Improve access to education through proactive measures to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the country which currently stands at over 20 million children

• The Nigerian government should also provide safe, secure and violence-free learning environment for learning

• It should scale up foundational literacy and numeracy programmes

• Offer digital skills and employability skills to adolescents to facilitate the school to work transition

• Increase domestic spending on education to 20 percent of the national budget as against the between 5 and 7 percent currently being spent on education

• Employ a sufficient number of teachers and provide adequate classrooms and libraries

• Provide teaching aids

• Improve quality of teaching and learning at the basic foundational level

If political will is added to the above recommendations then our education will be reflated especially at the basic level. This requires all stakeholders to be active participants in the remedial efforts. By this I mean, government, teachers, students and parents/guardians. Parents will help by closely monitoring the progress of the students through regular reviews of the progress and supervised practice sessions For illiterate parents, organising relevant home lessons will imbue children and wards with requisite skills

I will also advocate organising an orchestrated advocacy campaign to trumpet the values of education and to counter the corrosive effect of the Boko Haram campaign and its corollary “School na scam” mantra, rampant amongst students in the country nowadays. In all, government and non-governmental organisations, as well as well meaning Nigerians should take steps to encourage reading and mathematics. They can do this by creating healthy competition amongst students and schools by sponsoring various competitions to boost reading and numeracy

Introduction of indoor games like Scrabble should be encouraged as creative leisure for students to develop love for words and improve their vocabulary. Finally, a stitch in time saves nine and so the government should declare a state of emergency in education to arrest the drift and save our future by making our future leaders competitive, resourceful and talented.

Records reveal that there are over

40,000 secondary schools in Lagos state and more than 120,000 in Nigeria. As at 2021, only 5000 out of the 20,000 private secondary schools operating in Lagos had received approval of registration, according to Lagos state's Commissioner of Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo. This is simply because the majority of the schools do not meet the required standard

Please note that the assessment by Schoolings and EduTimes Africa is not based on the school fees charged although the academically and socially importance of adequate funding cannot be discounted. It indeed enables the school to hire the best teachers and administrative staff as well as to provide the best of facilities which not only enhances learning but can result in a more rounded education and development.

Bearing in mind the large number of schools in Lagos state, it would be worth noting that our list of 50 good schools is not a comprehensive list of all the good schools in Lagos. Such a list would be almost inexhaustible darefolarin2012@gmail.com

Oluwadare Folarin is a former Press Secretary to Governor Gbenga Daniel, a former member of Tribune Newspaper's Editorial Board, former Senior Manager, Public Relations at Globacom. He is a Visiting Lecturer to a university in the Republic of Benin. He is a public relations expert. Till date,he remains a member of several professional bodies including the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Nigerian Institute of Journalists (NUJ), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).

1. The school’s academic achievements in terms of their WAEC and NECO results

2. Social, sporting and other developmental facilities that aid learning both

3. Their performance in inter school competitions within Lagos and even outside the shores of the nation

4. Awards and accolades received both locally and internationally

5. Debating records within and outside its environs plus other salient factors not necessarily enumerated here

The 2023 list of 50 Good Secondary Schools in Lagos, in no particular order:

1. Children International School Lekki (CIS). Plot 8, Funke Zainab Usman Street, Lekki Phase 1

2. Meadow Hall Education. Meadow Hall Way, Alma Beach Estate, Lekki, Ibeju Lekki

3. Corona School Lekki. Block 35 Corona Dr, Abijo GRA Scheme 2

4. Grange School. Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja GRA, Ikeja

5. Grenville International School. #18 Ladoke Akintola Rd, Ikeja GRA

6. Cayley College. #6, Church Street, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

7. Chrisland Schools. #26 Opebi Rd, Opebi, Ikeja, Nigeria

8. National College. #9/11, Lanre

Ogunyade Street, Gbagada

9. Adrao International School. #28, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island

10. Queen Diana International Schools 5/7, Ugochukwu Street, Abule Egba, Alimosho

11. Avi-Cenna International

Muhammed Way, Yaba

22. Greensprings School. #32, Olatunde Ayoola Avenue, Ikeja

23. British International School. #1, Landbridge Avenue, Oniru Private Estate, Eti Osa

24. Kings College. #3 Catholic Mission Street, Lagos Island

25. Queens College. Birrel Ave, Yaba

26. King’s High School. #1 Awomolo Estate, Satellite Town

27. Dansol High School. #13/15, Acme Crescent, Agidingbi, Ikeja

28. St. Gregory’s College St. Gregory’s Road, Obalende

Road, Festac Town

36. Temple School. #213, Ikorodu Road, Ilupeju

37. Supreme Education Foundation Schools. #23, Emmanuel Keshi Road, Magodo G.R.A

38. Grace School. #Plot 241 Ajidagan Street, Gbagada Estate, Phase 1

39. Halifield School. #2 Oki Lane, Maryland

39. American International School 1004 Federal Housing Estate,

Junior Secondary School Badore Village, Badore, Ajah, Eti Osa

48. Surulere Community Junior Secondary School, Surulere Street, Alagbado

49. Government Junior College

Osborne School Complex, Osborne Estate, Ikoyi

50. Pinefield Schools. Christ Avenue, Off Admiralty Road, Lekki Phase 1

School. #6, Harold Shodipo Crescent, Ikeja GRA

12. Caleb International College. #1, Kayode Odusola Crescent, Ikosi GRA, Magodo

13. Dowen College. #18, Adebayo Doherty Road, Road 14, Lekki Phase 1

14. Wellspring College. #25B, Somide Odujinrin Street, Omole Estate Phase 2, Ikeka

15. Loral International Schools. #201 Road, D Close, Festac Town, Amuwo Odofin

16. Cambridge College. #64, Adekunle Fajuyi Way, G.R.A, Ikeja

17. Atlantic Hall. Poka, Lekki-Epe, Express way

18. Jextoban Secondary School. #1/3, Ibadan Street, Kosofe

19. Vivian Fowler Memorial College. Plot 5, Balogun Street, Chief T.A. Doherty Layout, Oregun, Ikeja

20. Indian Language School #14/16, Oba Nle Aro Avenue, Ilupeju

21. Methodist Girls High School. #320, Murtala

29. Caleb International College. Km 15, Lekki-Epe expressway, Lekki Phase I, Eti Osa

30. Tunwase High School #22, Akinola Cole Crescent, Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja

31. Genesis High School #34/36, Bisi-Afolabi, Oke-Ira Nla, Badore, Ajah, Eti Osa

32. Redeemers International

Victoria Island

40. ISL Unilag DLI Road, University Of Lagos Campus, Yaba, Akoka

41. Nigerian Navy Secondary School (NNSS)

Nigerian Navy Barracks, Navy Town, Ojo

42. Edgewood College #13 Sule Onabiyi Street, Lekki Phase 1

43. Lagos City Senior College #34, Commercial Avenue, Sabo Yaba, Lagos Mainland, Lagos www.Schoolings.org

There we have it. 50 of the best schools in Lagos. This is just the first of many good school listings that will cover states in Nigeria, Abuja and other African countries. The Lagos Good Schools Guide is a special project carried out by Schoolings and EduTimes Africa. We hope our readers scouting for a good secondary school in Lagos will find it useful.

Secondary School, 350, Ikorodu Road, Maryland, Ikeja

33. Lagoon School. Ladipo Omotesho Cole Street, Lekki Phase 1

34. White Sands. Block 140, Whitesands St, Lekki Phase I

35. Radiance Schools. #41

44. Mobolaji Bank Anthony Junior High School #324, Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo Yaba

45. Blue Waters Academy Plot 4/5 Abeke Ogunkoya Drive, Lekki Phase 1,

46. Rainbow College #51 Johnson Street, off Bode Thomas Street, Surulere

47. Badore Community

1. Sir, which state are you from and how were things growing up?

I hailed from Ogun State but was born and bred in Lagos State Growing up was interesting under a disciplinarian Father and a prayer warrior Mother both of blessed memory. They did a lot to shape my life and shielded me from the torrid environment I grew up with my siblings. I am the second child and first boy in a family of three girls and three. We are still a closely-nit family

2. How were your schooling years?

My Elementary School days were fun with lots of nostalgia, my teachers deeply inculcated discipline and fear of God in me. My khaki uniform then must be well starched and crispy. In my Primary 6, I was the Janitor of the School, meaning I must always get to School before 7:30am and I was almost the last pupil to leave the School premises. The discipline, dedication and devotion to my assigned school portfolio then, helped in no small way through my Secondary school and later years

3. Are there any particular attitudes, disciplines or life skills that you derived from the process of education?

As I said earlier, my elementary school years made a lot of positive impact in my life. My teachers were sticklers for discipline that would not in any way spare the rod in teaching or correcting in towing