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| Nigerian House of Representatives |
If the bill scales all the hurdles at the National Assembly and is passed into law, it would be a crime for the president, vice-president, governors, deputy governors, ministers, members of the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly, commissioners, permanent secretaries and directors in the federal and state Civil Services to enroll their children in schools abroad except for post graduate degree programmes.
Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, disclosed this yesterday, at a public lecture to mark the 2013 Annual International Youth Day in Abuja. The proposed legislation, Jibrin said, was designed to address the growing decay of infrastructure and the resultant poor quality of education in public schools in Nigeria.
In a paper titled: "Nigeria at 53: The Role and Challenges of Legislators in Making the Nation's Youths Resourceful and Self Reliant", Jibrin decried the poor quality of education in Nigeria and blamed it on the deliberate neglect of the system by successive governments at all levels.
He said though most of those in prominent positions in government today passed through the public school system, they have abandoned it and chosen to send their children to private schools in Nigeria and abroad in spite of the huge financial cost of such a decision. Under the proposed legislation, these prominent Nigerians would be compelled to have their children and wards enrolled in public schools in Nigeria.
He said the education sector in Nigeria required revolutionary bills that would save the system from total ruin.
"The major element of this bill is that all public servants from a particular rank and all political office holders would have to get their children to do their primary, secondary and first degree education in public schools in Nigeria.
"A similar bill was introduced at the Senate but it could not pass second reading. We are working on that bill with like minds and we will take it back to the floor of the House of Representatives. Let us do our own bit. If Nigerians support us, fine; if they don't, fine. But we have looked at the situation and have come to the conclusion that this is probably the only way out of this problem of neglect of our public schools," Jibrin said.
He observed that the absence of the children of the high, powerful and mighty in Nigerian public schools meant that those who should care for the system have their commitment to either the private schools or the educational system in other countries.
Jibrin argued that the state of decadence in the education sector had reached an alarming rate that a radical solution was required to arrest total collapse of the system.
He said it had become imperative that lawmakers add value to the process of education not just by ensuring adequate funding for the sector but also by emphasising entrepreneurship education to help the youths understand the various options available to them in a liberal economy.
In any sane country, he said, issues concerning the youths were not toyed with as youths remained a crucial factor in nation building. According to him, the legislators have a role to play in ensuring that a conducive atmosphere was created to enable youths realise their full potentials and contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.
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