Rescuing The Private Education Sector: A call for Inclusive Policy in COVID 19 Education Response.

Lanre Oguntoye ...The Inspirational

It is glaring that our new world, the new millennial era, is facing it first global disruption. The COVID 19 pandemic is the precursor of the unprecedented uncertainty that has rocked every fibre of our society: from the health sector to the market place; and from the farm to the homes. Government, institutions, communities, families and individuals are engaging critical disposition of thoughtfulness and deep thinking to decrypt the penetrating tentacles of this pandemic and intentionally strategize for survival, at the least.

Just 20 years into this new millennium, it seems that mother Earth has quickly come to a state of a climax community, where it enforces a global restructuring in every sector. This is not the time for politicizing national or institutional issues. This is not the time for segregation, exclusion and seeking only ones own. At the least, the history of responses to past pandemic would want us to learn the need to survive together or perish apart. We have seen nations extending hands of fellowship to one another. Thinking governments of nations have rolled out bailout packages for industries, institutions and welfare structures for communities. This is best for the economy and the going concern of the institutions in the private and public sector. Ensuring no one is left behind is the true spirit of inclusive governmental policy.

Looking into how the Federal and State Government in Nigeria have responded to the education sector in the face of this pandemic, one would safely deduce that the private subsector of the Nigerian education sector is being left to weather the storm alone.

It is important to enumerate why this exclusion stance of the State and Federal Government to the private education subsector is not justifiable.

The private education sector in Nigeria has helped to do more than complementing government effort in educating the citizenry. With an estimated population of 206,139,589 people at mid-year 2020 according to UN data, and 43.89% (Plecher,2020) of which are children(age 0-14), government owned institutions can certainly not meet up with the exponential demands. We have seen the proliferation of standard private institutions, who have thrived to beat and exceed the best standard exemplified by any public educational institution in Nigeria. It will be an understatement to say that the private education sector has helped to put Nigeria on the global map and still holds the beacon of hope. Hence, attesting to the possibility of the Nigeria education ecosystem meeting world-class standard.

We have had students from the private education sector representing Nigeria on various international landscape. Thanks to the educators, administrators and school owners, weathering the storm to create sustainable change.

In addition, how would one explain the benefits offer by private schools in engineering opportunities and access to education for underserved children who live in isolated communities? No matter how small these schools are, the value they provide cannot be undressed. I have seen children of expatriate comfortably attending schools in Nigeria, while their parents meaningfully commit their skills and knowledge to various ecosystems of our economy. Thanks to the private sector, who provide the necessary excellent standard appealing enough to accommodate these expatriate communities. I have been in the education sector for more than a decade and half, I have not seen any expatriate kid attending our public institutions. That is something to ponder on!

Therefore, one would wonder and expect that government responses to the COVID 19 situation would intentionally include strategies to protect the private education businesses and sustain their going-concern.

Big thanks to the various state governments ,who have announced or implemented plans for rolling e-learning platforms (including the radio and television) for students during this time. One would also appreciate the effort of the government to keep our children safe by ensuring that schools remain closed until the coast is cleared. Some State Commissioners for Education, like the Lagos State Commissioner for Education have categorically stated that schools remain closed and that third term has not yet been authorized to commence. That means schools, mostly private schools, who have the capacity to mobilize resources; skills and technology for online learning cannot start third term online.

Thanks to the proactive and insightful leadership of Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, the Lagos State Commissioner for Education. She advised that schools should find a win-win situation with parents as they provide learning opportunities for the children during this time. The commissioner tried to find a diplomatic balance in her address. However, a keenly look at this swinging COVID 19 pendulum, would identify that this win-win situation, as laudable and thinkable as it appears, is at a non- sustainable equilibrium. Things will soon fall apart and the center would not hold in the private education sector.

If third term was not to open(offline or online) , most parents would rather not commit their scarce resources into paying for some sort of makeshift curriculum intended to keep the students learning and intellectually in form this season. I see a lot of sense and value in this, as an educator, would parent? People only commit resources to a value they can see or at best perceived. Therefore, the private educators may not be able to get enough fund from this win-win arrangement with parents. Consequently, if no fund comes in, how would the staff of these institutions be paid and how would the schools' going concern be sustained?

I call out for a thought-through sustainable bailout fund for private educational institutions in Nigeria. This is not just for the sake of the school owners or their staff; it is a strategy that ensures all children in both public and private schools are included in government rescue-policy, as the education sector respond to the COVID 19 shock.

Government plans to roll out e-learning platforms should also cater for children in private schools to enrolled on such platforms, whenever it is ready. States that rolled out trainings for teachers on technology integration should also include private school teachers in this initiative. For example, as reported by Vanguard Newspaper on 25th of April, the Lagos State Government, in collaboration with Microsoft Office, represented by ATB Techsoft Solutions, has concluded plans to train 18,000 of its Teachers, commencing from Monday, April 27, 2020. It would be great to see how the private education teachers would benefit from this, knowing that not all private schools have the capacity to mobilize resources to get their teachers set for this delayed online learning revolution.

We should look beyond palliatives, and segregating measures. This is an opportunity for total overhaul of teacher’s skills and capacity development. So ,I believe that at this time government should include and permit willing private schools to join in and benefit from whatever capacity development or trainings that will better position teachers and administrators for the COVID 19 and Post-COVID 19 challenges. There should be nothing like “this e-learning platform or initiative is opened only to public school students and teachers". That will not be an inclusive rescue policy! Both private and public school teachers are taxpayers; setting this as the least of considerations.

Our Federal and State Government have tried so far but more is needful. I submit that the government rescue net should not do selective fishing in this COVID 19 storm. The private education sector needs the State and The Federal government bailout at this time. This will facilitate their survival and the ultimate prosperity of the Nigeria education system, as posterity waits to evaluate.

Reference:

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/04/covid-19-lockdown-lagos-partners-microsoft-atb-on-digital-training-for-teachers/

https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/nigeria-demographics/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/382296/age-structure-in-nigeria/