AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, SIMON BAKO LALONG CONCERNING THE INDISCRIMINATE RUNNING OF ILLEGAL PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN JOS NORTH L.G.A., PLATEAU STATE,NIGERIA

Dear Sir,
Education is the bedrock of societal development.No society can attain meaninful development without sound education.The best legacy any government can provide to its citizens lies strictly on sound education. Education is considered to be the life-line of development.
Sir, kindly allow me to air out my views on the comatose state of education in Jos north L.G.A. and the state at large.But before then, I can vividly recall when we were queuing in the scorching sun with our Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) just to vote for the change tagged "THE PLATEAU RESCUE TEAM," because change was all we desperately needed. However, with the dawn of the APC government, I do hope government will look at the key issues raised in this open letter with a visionary eye, as regards to the decayed educational standards in Jos north, with a view to bringing lasting solution to the nagging problem as soon as possible.
Sir, indiscriminate running of private schools has been what the previous government fail to address, in view of this people looked upon this neglected tasks of government as well as the "I DON'T CARE" attitude of government towards the educational sector and therefore capitalise on it, thereby looking at it, as a very lucrative venture, considering the sorry state of public schools. Sir, remember that sixty to seventy percent of schools in Jos metropolis are not registered with the Ministry of Education. However, since these illegal schools are not under the watch of government they stand the chance of operating awkwardly. I am an eye witness of a school operating without a timetable. Sir, imagine a school operating on corridors of houses or a school having classes constructed with iron zincs having almost fifty to sixty students packed together. I don't take this to be a conducive environment for learning. Sir, imagine a secondary school drop-out teaching in a secondary school. Is this the right way to train our future generation academically? Certainly not.
If I may say with solidarity sentiment, that qualitative education to all citizens regardless of religious, ethnic or political inclination is a right rather than a previlege. It is crystal clear that the Ministry of Education is not functioning the way it ought to. Are we going to fold our hands. and watch some few people cripple the destiny of our children in the name of making money? Certainly no.
I apparently donot see a bright future in those upcoming generation that are trained in this collapsed system. I want to see these leaders of tommorrow celebrate their strengthsand use them to improve their weaknesses. I want them to learn with excellence,passion, creativity, humility, kindness and respects. Moreso, I want them to learn,with the liberty to imagine new possibilities and explore new innovations. I strongly believe we can combat the ugly situation if we inculcate creativity, accountability, compassion and confidence in students and teachers alike,but the gospel truth is that the key elements of teaching and learning are not the focal point of public education.
In conclusion, I urge the government to take the following recommendations into cognizance in order to solve this menace that is bedevilling our educational sector.
1.There should be a regulatory body over-seeing the operarions of private schools in the state. Careful surveillance of schools operating illegally is very important and anybody caught operating a school illegally should face the law.
2. The rehabilitations of public schools to expected standard in order to complement the efforts of private schools is also paramount
3. A flatform should be created within the Ministry of Education for thoroughful screening of recruited teachers in private schools to ensure that well qualified and motivated teachers are employed who can provide ut-edge services.
4. The ministry should ensure that private schools seeking for registration must have met the requirements of establishing a school.
I do hope this appeal will be viewed with keen interest.At this junture I must say a big kudos to the governor over his efforts in rehabitating the dilapidated state of road networks in city of jos. Indeed even the blind man can sense the change promised by your government.
More grease to your elbows.
Long live Plateau State.
Long live our ebullient governor.
Long live APC.
Yours faithfully,
Ukasha Idris Mahmoud.
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