The Education Quality Assurance Office in Lagos State has indicated that over 7, 000 private schools operating in Lagos had not registered or obtained approval from the Ministry of Education at the time the collapse of a school building at Ita Faaji area of the state was reported.
Such unapproved schools, the education agency said, fell short of the guidelines by the Lagos State Ministry of Education to guarantee safety and security of lives of learners at school.
According to the guidelines by the Ministry of Education in the state, signed by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, no school was expected to operate until it had been fully approved by the Ministry, to ensure the safety of lives of students.
About 18,000 private schools are in existence and there are only 5,302 registered schools in Lagos, while about 6,000 are in the process of registration. If we sum these figures, we have about 11,000 schools that are recognised, because some have been registered fully while some are still in the process. Remove 11,000 schools from 18,000 schools, we still have 7,000 schools that have not started the registration process
However, considering the exigencies and challenges besetting the education sector, several schools still operate without a licence, in order to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the society.
Addressing the issue of illegal operation of schools in the state, the Deputy Director, Public Affairs in the Education Ministry, Adesegun Ogundeji, explained that the Ministry was working hard to ensure that all schools met the criteria for approval.
Explaining why the unapproved schools were still operating in the state, he said that closing down the schools would increase the number of out-of-school children, which is currently being battled.
He explained, “About 18,000 private schools are in existence and there are only 5,302 registered schools in Lagos, while about 6,000 are in the process of registration. If we sum these figures, we have about 11,000 schools that are recognised, because some have been registered fully while some are still in the process.
“Remove 11,000 schools from 18,000 schools, we still have 7,000 schools that have not started the registration process. Shutting the schools down has its own consequences; if we shut down 7,000 unregistered schools in the state, we have multiplied the number of out-of-school children. Assuming each of these schools has a total of 100 students, you can imagine the number of out-of-school children we’ll have. Imagine the social effect on the children. We are in a country that is fighting out-of-school children.”
To curb the problem of unsafe schools, Ogundeji said schools that blamed fund paucity for not meeting up the criteria had been instructed to join cluster groups so they could access loans from government in order be able to offer quality education.
He said, “Rather than compound a problem into a multifaceted problem, we are now saying, come, form associations, let us interface with you. It is not easy to talk to 18, 000 proprietors one after the other. We have associations like Affordable Education (AFED) that claim to have members who run low-fee schools. We have the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) and others. There are Christian faith-based schools, Muslim faith-based and so on.
“We have given them the guidelines for compliance; it does the school good when they have government recognition. They said funding was an issue to upgrade the school; the Lagos State Government introduced State Employment Trust Fund to access soft loans to upgrade. All these are to ensure that students get standard education. We want them to follow the curriculum and rules of the sector.”
The deputy director added that before a school was approved, it should have met all the given criteria, warning that any inspecting official who approved schools without the complete criteria would face severe punishment.
Outlining the criteria, he said, “We require applicants to outline three names in order of preference and bring it for a search to know if another school has the same name so there will be no clash of identity.
“After the name, the school has to write to us to come and inspect the premises. In the team for inspection, there are so many professionals. Professional from different areas come together to form the team for inspection and there is nothing like taking bribe to approve a school because the Ministry will find out. If you are a civil servant, you will know that the consequences of faulting the rules are strict.
“After this, we would advise on those things that may not be in place and give time for you to meet those criteria. After a school has fully met the criteria, we would go there for a final inspection to confirm and grant approval.
“The process to get a school legally approved by the government is not cumbersome but we still have people who are yet to complete their registration, which they blame on lack of fund. We allow schools use a rented apartment but they cannot share. If the building is rented, it should be solely for school activities. We do this because of security, as we may not be able to manage human trafficking in a shared rented apartment.
“Ordinarily, if a school hasn’t been fully approved, it is not supposed to be in operation but in reality, there are so many running currently without registration. Some are yet to confirm their name search.”
He stated that the collapsed school at Ita Faaji was not recognised by the government, saying, “Ordinary name search was not done by the school. To the government, such schools do not exist.
“The positive thing is that we are getting across to these unregistered schools now, because the unions are very vibrant now. Between 2015 and 2019, we were able to register 30 per cent of the 5,302 schools. Our approach is working; it encourages them to come out and register.
“Those operating in a totally unacceptable environment will be warned and given time to relocate to an approved location. If this is not done, then we would shut them down. Any school that follows our guidelines will be safe. These guidelines must be met before we approve the schools but unfortunately, many are yet to meet the conditions.”
