BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
Stakeholders in the education sector have called on alumni associations to contribute to the development of education in the country by returning to their various alma maters and investing in them.
According to them, governments alone cannot fund and revive the fallen standard of education, therefore, those who might have gained from their former schools in one way or the other should also make their impacts known for the transformation of the sector.
In an interview with The Point, the National President, Ebonyi State University Alumni Association, Kenneth Ereke, asked the old boys and girls of institutions of learning in Nigeria to invest in the development of their alma maters.
He said the role of the alumni in reviving the standard of education in Nigeria could not be overemphasised, regretting that some highly placed and well-to-do alumni of institutions of learning kept shifting the blame of decline in the standard of education in the country to governments without contributing their quota to facilitate the expected change.
Ereke said, “Government alone cannot upgrade the standard of education in Nigeria to the desired level; it is the collective efforts of philanthropists, alumni associations, parents and teachers, among others, that can do the required magic.
“Alumni associations can play crucial roles in reviving the standard of education in Nigeria by ensuring that there is conducive learning and effective teaching environment in their alma mater. Probably, you passed through the institutions when there was paucity of desks, lecture halls, lack of power, water supply and lack of hostels. As an alumnus, it is your responsibility to contribute individually or collectively to rectify the issues hindering effective teaching and learning in your alma mater.
“Nigerian government over the years have proved it may not single-handedly go as far as expected in upgrading the standard of education; hence, the need for all hands to be on deck.
“Alumni associations most times task themselves to erect hostels, auditoriums, lecture halls, classroom blocks, donate transformers, drill boreholes, water wells to ensure progress of the institutions that moulded them. In our own little corner here in Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, we have built and equipped an ultramodern medical center at the permanent site Ezzangbo that is serving the health needs of the entire university and its environs. Through that medical center, we have also played social responsibility role to the host community.”
“I particularly call on alumni of institutions of learning, philanthropists, corporate bodies to put in their best in ensuring the improvement of education in Nigeria. The main essence of forming an alumni association is majorly to contribute to the progress of the alma mater and members. Unfortunately in Nigeria, most alumni members do not like playing that role back home but they are willing to pay in dollars to schools abroad where they bagged one degree or the other.”
Echoing a similar opinion, another stakeholder, Gabriel Adeyi, asked school authorities to always be in touch with their old students and liaise with them on the challenges confronting the institutions.
He bemoaned the decaying facilities in public schools, noting that partnership with alumni bodies would go a long way in tackling the rot in education.
“School authorities have a lot to do in this regard. What do I mean, the moment they are graduating students, they should avail them with proper orientation on the need to always remember their alma mater, give them moral support to achieve in their chosen careers and create a bond that would connect them back to the school. It is already obvious that governments alone cannot save our schools, therefore, we need to galvanise the alumni bodies to support,” he said.
