The Federal Government, through its Ministry of Education, recently said it did not have funds to pay the arrears of allowances owed polytechnic lecturers, who have been on strike for more than 10 months. The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Mc-John Nwaobiala, made the remark while addressing the House of Representatives’ Committee on Education at a meeting called to resolve the strike. Nwaobiala said, however, that his ministry would appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to release special funds to meet the demands of the striking lecturers, who are demanding the establishment of a national polytechnics’ commission; publication of the report of visitation panels and better conditions of service, among others.
The inability of the FG to adequately fund its polytechnics buttresses the nation’s scant regard for polytechnic education and by implication, its technological advancement as well. The government has no acceptable justification for this dereliction of its social responsibility to the nation. There are about 81 polytechnics nationwide and the FG owns only 21. How can a central government that controls over 50 per cent of the country’s revenue claim that it has no funds to pay polytechnics’ staff, when since 2010, a barrel of oil has been selling for not less than $70, with roughly two million barrels sold on daily basis? A conservative estimate suggests that the nation earns at least $140 million per day, out of which the FG pockets about $70 million, going be the current revenue allocation formula.
Our thinking, therefore, is that with government’s prudent management of the nation’s resources and a little sacrifice, it should be able to accommodate the demands of the lecturers and still attend to other imperative challenges. Indeed, even with what passes for a token budgetary allocation to education since 2012 to date, if well managed, the FG should have enough in its coffers to cater for the needs of our polytechnics and colleges of education staff.
The allocation for the education sector in 2012 was N400.15 billion, which is about 8.43 per cent of the budget, for example. In 2013, N426.53 billion or 8.7 per cent of the budget was set aside for the sector. The proposed 2014 budget of N4.6 trillion, which is yet to be implemented almost six months into the year, earmarked N424.2 billion for education or 9.2 per cent, comprising N373.5 billion for recurrent and N50.7 billion as capital expenditures. This is the highest allocation since 1999.
Unfortunately, however, President Jonathan has not signed the appropriation bill into law. The delay in implementing the 2014 budget may be one of the reasons the FG is finding it difficult to end the protracted strike by polytechnic teachers. But even if it is, the alibi is unacceptable because the lecturers have been on strike since October 2013. The FG ought to have made provisions for the special funds the permanent secretary made reference to before now if it had interest in polytechnic education.
It is high time the FG took education funding in the country seriously to save future generation, like some African countries are already doing. Whereas the UNESCO prescribes that nations should set aside at least 26 per cent of their annual budgets for the education sector, Ghana’s allocation for education in 2014 is 31 per cent; South Africa, 25 per cent; Cote d’Ivoire, 30 percent; Kenya 23 per cent and Morocco, 18 per cent, for example. It then follows that even the 9.2 percent 2014 budgetary allocation for education is still far below the UNESCO’s benchmark. When the N424.2 billion is shared among 40 federal universities, 21 polytechnics and 21 colleges of education, about 30 unity secondary schools plus the education ministry and its numerous parastatals, it will be clear that the allocation to education sector is grossly inadequate. Even if released on time, the N50.7 billion projected as capital expenditure for the sector cannot meet the needs of all federal educational institutions.
This is amidst wastages, corruption and mismanagement in virtually all public educational institutions. And until the FG eliminates political patronage and cronyism as the determinants of who gets appointed into the governing councils of public tertiary institutions, the vices may never end. The token funds made available would always be largely squandered. Like we once said, FG’s spending of well over N10 billion on centenary celebrations does not speak well of the managers of the nation’s resources. Therefore, for the same government to turn around and say it has no money to fund any aspect of the education sector is objectionable. It should quickly muster funds to bail out the nation’s polytechnics.
