9th September, 2019
By Taiwo Okanlawon
The Managing Director of TheNEWS/PM News, Bayo Onanuga has called for collaboration between alumni associations and other stakeholders in the education sector to mount pressure on government at all levels to pay more attention to revamping the education system.
He said the government must first fix the admission policy, making sure only the best candidates were admitted to study education or make cross-over career choices in the future.
Onanuga made this call while giving his speech at the pre-70th Anniversary Luncheon of Ijebu Muslim College Old Students Association (IMCOSA) held in Ikeja, Lagos on Sunday.
According to him, schools should not just be eager to fill vacancies in the classrooms, but set high marks for those to be admitted.
In his words, “Alumni associations should not just be concerned with brick and mortar, building assembly halls, science laboratories, toilets, accommodation for teachers, without getting more involved with the content and quality of education being provided in our schools.”
“We need collaboration with other alumni associations. Our IMCOSA can team up with other alumni associations such as JOGS or Adeola Odutola College to mount pressure on the government to pay more attention to this important aspect of education.”
Onanuga further said to make this realistic, government needs to offer irresistible incentives to brilliant students to take on teaching as a lifetime career.
“There should be incentives like full scholarships, cars, accommodation, etc. We need to make the classrooms bubble once again with the best minds in our society, like it was in 50s, 60s, and early 70s.
“Government also needs to retain good teachers beyond the retirement age of 60. Government can make good offers to attract part-time, volunteer teachers, who can really pass down good stuff to the young ones,” he added.
Speaking with journalists at the event, the Chairman, Anniversary Planning Committee and former National President, IMCOSA, Mr. Ben Oshadiya, also called for collaborations between the State governments and all stakeholders to make Nigerian students compete globally again in terms of education.
He said, “Ogun State government has taken a lead in this regard, the last time they organized a summit, they invited all the stakeholders, teachers, old students associations, proprietors and even the students.
“So, they have formulated good policies that they need to continue to implement and that is what we are also implementing at Ijebu Muslim College now and our students are now doing better.”
On his part, the former Deputy Governor, Ogun State, Senator Adegbenga Kaka said the government could start rectifying the problems by making sure that the products from primary schools were solid.
In his welcome address, National President, IMCOSA, Kayode Sote applauded various class sets, founding fathers’ families, corporate bodies and other individuals who had contributed to areas of needs of the school to improve the learning condition of pupils.
He also urged them to make donations either in cash or kind to actualize the objectives for the 70th Founders Day Anniversary.
IMCOSA also honoured its committed members, corporate bodies who have aligned with the vision of the founders of the school through regular and generous donations.
