NANS speaks

FROM the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Tijani Usman Shehu, has come an appeal that the government should increase the allocation to education in the 2015 budget, saying the current vote falls short of UNESCO recommendation and what is obtainable in other African countries.

Shehu who expressed with dismay that
hitherto education in the country is not receiving adequate attention as it ought to, worries that the trend is likely to jeopardise the future of the country if not adequately addressed.

He challenged government to make education matter a priority and also look into alternative ways of funding education so Nigeria could acclaim its rightful position in the international
arena.

He said, “There is no denying the fact that
education is very poorly funded in Nigeria, which is yet to comply with the UNESCO recommendation that 26 per cent of annual budget be spent on education. Nigeria spends 8.34 per cent of her annual budget on education.

As concerned education stakeholders,
we are calling for the upward revision of the 2015 budget to meet the 26 per cent
recommended by UNESCO, as the amount voted for education fails to adequately address the funding of the vital sector.

“The future of university education in Nigeria will ultimately boil down to priorities. Government at all levels, career officers in the ministries of education and parastatals, the universities management team can decide to reverse this trend and shift university education costs away from those least able to afford it.

The situation in our higher educational
institutions will improve considerably if the government spends at least 25-30 per cent of her annual budget on education and out of this amount 18-20 per cent on capital expenditure
for infrastructure in the sector with low cost-sharing and tuition fee.”

Shehu averred that if government at every stage boosts their investment in public university education, there would be massive development of human capital needed for national advancement and better livelihood.

“Since the educational system needs to be financed, the private and public sector
assistance or contribution should be more encouraged. In order to derive these benefits, the government should uphold the World Bank’s
advice that Nigeria and thirty-eight other African countries should subject their educational system to revitalisation and selective expansion policies in order to benefit from the World Bank donor countries.

“The use of taxes whether direct or indirect, income or property tax could also be more intensified to generate more revenue for the country.

Likewise, government could explore
the re-introduction of loans to students of
tertiary institutions while the scholarship
schemes could be revamped at the federal and state levels,” he said.

For cost effective strategies of universities education to be achieved in the country, he urged government to pay adequate attention to policy frameworks; proper management and accountability of fund allotted to university education sector; and also ensure that officials
need to provide long-term solutions are elected rather than politically expedient fixes that leave the system of university education at risk.

Shehu also preached on the need to provide access to all qualified students regardless of their financial circumstances; meet the nation’s workforce needs by producing graduates able to contribute to every sector of society; and allocates resources based on a competition of ideas, not history, politics or privilege.

Written by Ujunwa Atueyi

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Researches shows girls lead boys in academicachievement globally

CONSIDERABLE attention has been paid to how
boys’ educational achievements in science and
math compare to girls’ accomplishments in
those areas, often leading to the assumption
that boys outperform girls in these areas.
Now, using international data, researchers
at the University of Missouri, United States, and
the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland,
have determined that girls outperform boys in
educational achievement in 70 per cent of the
countries they studied regardless of the level of
gender, political, economic or social equality.

Curators Professor of Psychological
Sciences in the College of Arts and Science at
MU, David Geary, said: “We studied the
educational achievement levels of 1.5 million
15-year-olds from around the world using data
collected between 2000 and 2010,” “Even in
countries where women’s liberties are severely
restricted, we found that girls are outperforming
boys in reading, mathematics, and science
literacy by age 15, regardless of political,
economic, social or gender equality issues and
policies found in those countries.”

According to the data, boys fall behind girls
in overall achievement across reading,
mathematics, and science in 70 percent of the
countries studied. Boys outperform girls in only
three countries or regions: Colombia, Costa Rica
and the Indian state, Himachal Pradesh. Boys
and girls had similar educational achievements
in the United States and United Kingdom.
In countries known for relatively low gender
equality ratings, such as Qatar, Jordan and the
United Arab Emirates, the educational
achievement gap is relatively large and favours
girls.

The one exception worldwide is among
students in economically developed nations
where high achieving boys outperform high
achieving girls, researchers said.
“With the exception of high-achievers, boys
have poorer educational outcomes than girls
around the world, independent of social equality
indicators,” said Gijsbert Stoet, reader in
psychology at the University of Glasgow.

“Results show that a commitment to gender
equality on its own is not enough to close the
achievement gaps in global education; the gap
is not increasing. Although it is vital that we
promote gender equality in schools, we also
need to make sure that we’re doing more to
understand why these gaps, especially among
boys, persist and what other policies we can
develop to close them.”

The study also has important implications for
educational policy, the researchers said.
“The data will influence how policymakers
think about the options available,” said Geary.

“For example, to increase levels of equal
opportunities in education. We believe that
policymakers and educators should not expect
that broad progress in social equality will
necessarily result in educational equality. In
fact, we found that with the exception of high
achievers, boys have poorer educational
outcomes than girls around the world,
independent of social equality indicators.

Therefore, in order to effectively close the gaps
in achievement, education policymakers should
consider factors other than political, economic
and social equality, and especially as related to
boys’ overall achievement and high-achieving
girls’ interest in mathematics and science.”