[Mhiz Rebecca]

ANALYSIS: WAEC rating highlights dwindling fortunes
of education in South-west Nigeria
Historically, western education entered the country
through the South-west of Nigeria. The colonial
authorities initially concentrated their activities in the
Lagos area before moving down south along the
coastal cities.
They were not at the time involved in the operation and
funding of education. Scholars have suggested that
formal western education began in Nigeria in 1842 at
the primary level through the efforts of Christian
missions. Secondary education was subsequently
introduced. The first secondary school was CMS
Grammar School, established in 1859 in Lagos.
It has been well documented that the colonial
government only began its involvement in education
after it promulgated its first Education Ordinance in
1882 when it began the funding of public schools and
gave assistance to private ones. The difficulty in its
implementation led to the enactment of the second
Ordinance in 1887. This ordinance was said to have
covered only schools in Lagos at the time.
Also, 73 years after the establishment of the first
secondary school in Lagos, the first higher institution in
Nigeria, Yaba Higher College, was established in 1932.
The University College, Ibadan followed shortly in 1934.
Undoubtedly, the region had a head start in educational
development compared to other regions of the country.
This was further buoyed by the Universal Primary
Education Policy of the then Premier of Western
Region, Obafemi Awolowo, which offered free
education for children in primary schools starting from
1955. Besides providing children of poor background
access to quality education, it underscored the intrinsic
value of education, which subsequently stimulated and
facilitated the mass education of the population.
From Lagos to Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and down to
Ekiti, the preponderance of professors and well-read
academicians benchmarks the solid foundation laid for
the education in the region. It is often said (though
debatable) that in every home in Ekiti, there is a
professor.
However, in a recent analysis, it is apparent that other
regions are not only catching up, but might have
overtaken the South-west in education.
If there is any doubt in the minds of anyone, the
performances of the region in the Senior School
Certificate Examinations, SSCE in the last five years
showed that South-west states only trail other regions
in their well-publicised ratings. In all these years, none
of the states, besides Lagos, has made it to the list of
top 10 states on the West African Examinations Council,
WAEC performance table.
Available statistics of the 2017 SSCE results
enumerating states’ performance, showed the South-
east states posting brilliant performances. Besides
topping the chart, four of the five states made the top
10 list of states.
The dominance of the South-east and South-south
states in the WAEC rating in the last five years, raise
concerns about the much-touted claims of the South-
west as the bastion of education in Nigeria.
However, the South-west states had Lagos as a
representative among the top 10 states. It shows Abia,
Rivers, and Edo coming tops, with Imo, Bayelsa,
Anambra, Lagos, Taraba, Enugu and Delta following in
that order.
Besides Lagos that manages to retain its presence in
the top 10, the other South-west states remain
comfortable either at the rear or at the middle.
In 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 WAEC results, only Lagos
featured in the top 10 list of states which continued to
be dominated by states from the South-east and South-
south.
For instance, in 2015, all the South-east states made it
to the top 10 on the chart. While Lagos still retained its
place on the list, Ekiti managed to clinch the
11th position on the chart. Ondo came 14th, Ogun,
20th position, Oyo, 27th, while Osun came 30th. The
situation was not so different in 2014 chart which saw
Ekiti occupying the 12th position. Ondo followed
closely on the 13th position, while Ogun moved up to
18, Osun, 22 and Oyo, 24.
The Ekiti State government last year celebrated the
improvement of the state on the WAEC performance
chart when it moved from the 28th position in 2013 to
11th position in 2016. For the state, its placement on
the chart had perhaps bestowed credence on the
investment of the governor in education.
Idowu Adelusi, the Chief Press Secretary to the state
governor, Ayo Fayose, had described the feat as “an
indication that efforts of the present administration to
reposition education in the state were already yielding
results.”
He said the governor was particularly happy that no
fewer than 37 per cent of the state candidates that sat
for WAEC in 2016 had a minimum of five credits
including in English and Mathematics while a similar
feat was recorded in 2015.
“The mere fact that the state jumped from 35th
position to the 11th, barely two years of the coming
into office of this administration, is remarkable,” Mr.
Adelusi said.
Ekiti State also retained its 11th position in 2017.
However, some have rejected the use of the WAEC
chart as an indicator of the true state of education in
any state. A top official of the Ogun State government,
who did not want his name on print, while defending
the situation with education in Ogun, said the
conclusion that the south-west states, particularly
Ogun, performed dismally compared to other states
“was an error.”
According to him, the analyses did not consider the
number of candidates for each state before arriving at
the conclusion.
He said the rating was based on percentage pass in
five subjects at credit level and above. Looking at the
performance chart of the 2014 result, Ogun which
registered 70,474 candidates was placed 18th.
It was his reasoning that Ogun in that light should not
be compared with states like Bayelsa, ‘which featured
19,930 candidates and placed fourth.’
But such an argument is whittled when the 2014 table
is further examined. Even states which registered fewer
candidates had higher number of candidates which had
five credit passes and above including in Mathematic
and English.
For instance, Imo, which placed 8th on the table,
registered a total of 46,359 candidates, and had a total
of 18,830 candidates with five credits and above
including in Mathematics and English. Ogun with 70,474
candidates had a total of 15,974 candidates making the
five credit passes and above mark.
It is noteworthy that Ogun State had attracted flaks
from many critics in respect of its performance of
candidates in the 2016 SSCE.
However, the Special Assistant on Media to the Ogun
State Governor, Opeyemi Soyombo, believes such
criticisms were unfair and “did not reflect the true state
of education and the commitment of Ibikunle Amosun
towards restoring the virtue of education in the state.”
He argued that the administration in Ogun was
following the steps of Obafemi Awolowo by earmarking
over 20 per cent of the state’s budget to education.
He said the government is also operating the free
education policy at the primary and secondary levels
which had in turn raised the level of enrolment in
schools.
“In the 2010/ 2011 session, enrolment figure for JSS
was 158,972. Today, through the free education policy
of the Amosun government, enrolment figure has shot
up to 226,836,” Mr. Soyombo said.
“The figure has increased from 133,997 in 2010/2011 to
172,444 at the SSS level. Due to improvement in our
technical education, some children now move from JSS
to such schools while the majority proceed to SSS,
which is a big plus for our drive in vocational/technical
education. Expectedly, performance of our children in
WASSCE did improve significantly.”
It was also the view of the Commissioner for Education
in Osun State, Kola Young, that the WAEC results do
not necessarily represent the true state of education in
the states.
He argued that considering the prevalent rate of
examination malpractices across the country, it was
necessary to analyse the capacity of school leavers to
utilise their secondary school certificates.
Mr. Young said that analysts should look at the number
of students matriculating in Nigerians universities in
reaching conclusions “whether the South-west is
lagging behind or not.”
“If I find out that in our universities that the south-west
states are lagging behind in terms of the number of
students gaining admissions, then I will be alarmed,” he
said.
“But if the South-west is still leading, then I will have
doubts about the capacity of the other states to check
exam malpractices.”
He, however, added that he would need to have all the
data to be able to reach a final conclusion on it.
Seinde Arogbofa, an educationist and author told
PREMIUM TIMES that the dwindling fortunes of
education in the region is a function of the lack of
prioritisation of the sector by the state governments.
“UNICEF recommended that 26 per cent of the budget
be allocated to education. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in
his pursuit of ensuring quality education for the people,
earmarked over 30 per cent of his budget to education.
That was the reason why he succeeded so much,” he
said.
“Today, the state governments hardly give up to 10 per
cent to education in their states; they place little value
on education.”
He also blamed the poor reading culture for the dismal
performance of students in the examinations, saying,
“How can students pass when they don’t read?”
Mr. Arogbofa also criticised parents for not doing
enough to raise their children well, and condemned
their support for exam malpractices. He also had some
kind words for state governments.
“To say that the South-west governments are not doing
anything at all to improve education will amount to an
overkill and over generalisation. Some states such as
Ondo, Osun and Ogun had taken novel steps to re-
establish the foundations of education in their
respective domains. However, the fruits of these recent
ventures would only be noticeable in the far future.”
Much of what is seen as the legacies of a visionary
leadership bequeathed by Mr. Awolowo and which is
still being harnessed today as the capacities of the
South-west region was sown decades ago.
For South-west states, they may have to learn from Mr.
Awolowo’s saying that, “As far as possible, expenditure
on services which tend to the welfare and health and
education of the people should be increased at the
expense of any expenditure that does not answer to
the same test.”
The sage’s pivotal economic and education polices
transformed the entire South-west of Nigeria, making it
a leading light not only in education, but in other areas
of development. Governors in the region will need to re-
enact past glories in bringing education to a place of
priority, not only in access, but in quality