Lagos public schools: Hamzat, Rhodes-Vivour bicker over standards

​By Olasunkanmi Akoni

Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat has rejected criticism of the state’s public education system by Africa Democratic Congress, ADC, governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who described the state of public schools as an indictment of successive administrations.

While Rhodes-Vivour described the dominance of private schools as an indictment of successive governments and called for heavier investment in public education, Hamzat dismissed the suggestion that Lagos’ education system had failed, pointing to the achievements of its students and professionals.

Rhodes-Vivour spoke on Thursday during a town hall meeting for Lagos governorship candidates, where he outlined his plans to improve education if elected governor.

“Unfortunately, you have public schools to private schools almost at a ratio of 10 to 1, which is an indictment on the government for the last 20 years because in no sane society should private schools outnumber public schools,” Rhodes-Vivour said.

According to him, his administration, if elected, would invest heavily in public school infrastructure and ensure residents did not have to travel long distances to access quality education.

Rhodes-Vivour said schools would be provided at the local government and ward levels, while teachers’ salaries and training would be improved.

“So we must bring all of this into our education system, increase the quality of the environment that our children are in,” he said.

Rhodes-Vivour also criticised the condition of some public schools, referring to pictures of schools in Amuwo-Odofin that he described as “truly disgraceful”.

He called for increased investment in human capacity development and said problem-solving should become a central part of education.

“Children should be taught how things are made and produced, rather than relying solely on conventional narratives in history and other subjects.

“We cannot continue telling our children that Mungo Park discovered the River Niger,” he said.

Rhodes-Vivour said Lagos could draw lessons from education systems in Scandinavian countries and China while developing a model suited to Nigeria and Africa.

Responding to the criticism, Hamzat, who is also the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, rejected the suggestion that Lagos’ education system was a failure.

He said Lagos students had demonstrated their ability to compete internationally, citing a competition in England in which students from Surulere Grammar School emerged winners among participants from 66 countries.

Hamzat said the achievement showed that Lagos students had the capacity to excel despite criticisms of the state’s education system.

“I was listening to a question where somebody said our primary schools and public school students cannot speak English. And that is not correct. It’s not factually correct,” he said.

The deputy governor also pointed to the demand for Nigerian professionals abroad, saying doctors, teachers, nurses and technical engineers trained in the country were being recruited by countries including Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

He said the development demonstrated that Nigerians possessed the skills and intelligence needed to compete globally.

Hamzat, however, acknowledged that the government had not done everything needed to improve the education system.

“Have we done everything? Absolutely not. But that’s why governance is always continuous,” the APC candidate said.

He said the government needed to identify existing gaps, preserve progress already made and continue improving the education system.

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