Professor Chinwe Obaji, who was the minister of education between 2005 and 2006 under former President Olusegun Obasanjo has shared reasons Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The former education minister and Professor of international education stated this in an interview with Blueprint when she visited its corporate headquarters Tuesday.
She said people should not confuse standard and quality of education, but understand that the quality of education is falling, not standard.
She said her concern for the poor quality made her to institute the post-UTME screening in 2005 in which examiners found out those candidates who scored lower in UTME performed higher in the post-UTME screening.
She advised the federal government to make it a policy that the idea of awaiting result by UTME candidates is shelved aside as it is resource and time wasting. “Students can write UTME in August or September long after the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) results had been released.
On the planned phase-out of almajiri education by the federal government, she said children learn better if they are integrated into the mainstream education because “it is not the best to group children from similar parental social and economic backgrounds in a school as in the case of almajiri system. Children of the poor, the rich and the powerful in the society should study side by side in the same environment for better results in teaching-learning experience.”
On the proliferation of universities, she said the country would fare better in its education aspiration if the federal government, through National Universities Commission (NUC) halt the spread of new universities, saying any university without global outlook and recognition cannot be said to be university.
“Nigerian universities lack facilities and resources to attract global recognition therefore, it is better for the government to expand the existing universities instead of approving licenses for more.”
She said many private businesses had broken down after the owner died and expressed fear that the same fate might befall private universities in the country.
“How many private businesses survived after the owners left the world stage?” So there is the fear that some private universities in the country will die after the owners die.”
Speaking further, she said despite not having enough human resources in the existing universities, any time another new university comes into the scene, the old universities lose three or more experienced lecturers to the new one to serve as vice chancellors, deputy vice chancellors and other administrators.
“I don’t believe in the ownership of private universities, faith-based ones. What if the owner dies and his children are not interested in the school? Each time we open near university, we are removing at least three teachers from the pool which cannot be replaced overnight.”
Going down memory lane, Obaji said she is a ‘miracle child’ because under the Marine Commando which Obasanjo was the commander, she was shot at severally by the federal troops when they attacked their school, but survived with bullet wounds unlike her school mates who were killed in the attack. She also said under the same Obasanjo in 2005, she got appointed as the first female minister of education.
“Under Obasanjo as commander of Marine Commando, I nearly lost my life, but 35 years after under his government, I became the first female minister of education.”
“We were writing the Biafran School Certificate Examination when the federal troops came. Some of the girls (school mates) were killed instantly. I was asked to say my last prayer by a federal soldier and I said, ‘Oh Lord, let thy will be done’, and whole magazine was emptied on me, but fortunately, only seven bullets got me.”
The former education minister said thereafter, she completed her secondary education in an all-boys school.
Professor Obaji is remembered for starting the one-meal-a-day project in some pilot primary schools across the country, and also directed that universities should administer the post university matriculation examination to candidates in an effort by bypass the inefficiency of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
In April 2006, Obaji detailed reforms to the design of the basic education system to ensure that every Nigerian child at least has access to basic education. Most of the education policies practised today are the brainchild of the astute former education minister.
