When a businessman, Mr. Francis Ayodele, moved to withdraw Dolapo, his daughter from a private school to a government school in Lagos, his desire was to know if the taste of the pudding was truly in the eating.
Through its Eko Project, the state government claims to have turned around the fortunes of the 349 Junior Secondary Schools and 317 Senior Secondary Schools under its purview;and the 13-year-old girl had looked forward to a challenging but rewarding time as a Senior Secondary School 1 pupil in a new school.
But four months after he initiated the process, Ayodele has yet to find a school for his daughter, a development which has frustrated him to no end. Ayodele says his desire to find a school for his daughter is going up in flames even after paying N15,000 to secure the transfer.
He says he paid the money to one Mr. Moruf Ojulari, a teacher with Mafoluku Grammar School, who claims to liaise with the Ministry of Education on such issues.
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“A friend introduced Mr. Ojulari to me and I contacted him. I paid him N15,000 since the beginning of last term and he has not been able to facilitate the transfer. Each time I call him, he claims that the first batch of names is out and we should wait for the next batch. We have been waiting for over four months now,’’ he notes.
However, findings reveal that transfer racketeering has become a booming industry for some teachers in the state. These teachers reportedly have a boom period during the first term of every academic session, as their associates recommend them to the unsuspecting parents.
The story of Mrs. Bukola Oyeyemi, who claims to have lost N25,000 to one Alhaji Akuruyejo, a teacher at the Gbara Primary School, Jakande, Lekki, is another typical example. Oyeyemi was eager to effect transfer for Omowunmi, her niece, who was moving from a government school in the Agbado, Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area of the state to another government school in Lekki.
The encounter has since left a sour taste in the mouth of the guardian who later managed to get a refund.
She adds, “I met the teacher in August last year on the recommendation of another parent who had done a similar thing through him. But that was when the waiting game started. He kept telling us the list containing Omowunmi’s name would soon come out. But her name was not on the first, second and even the third list.
“That was when I went to meet the principal of the school who later told me that he was not expecting any other list from the Ministry of Education. We later had to take my niece to a private school because no government school would take her at that time.”
In the case of Ayodele, who says he paid many visits to the ministry without a favourable result, he is bitter that his daughter will have to repeat a class.
“No government school will take her now that pupils are writing mid-term test. It is also too late to take her to a private school because she has lost grounds and may not be able to cope. The conclusion now is that she has to stay at home for a year.
“The issue of transfer from private schools to public schools in Lagos is now a serious case that needs to be addressed by the state government. The authorities ask parents and guardians to pay some amount of money for the transfer. But till now, the names of all the pupils affected have not been released by the ministry of education, and the pupils affected are still at home since last year,” he says
Meanwhile, assuming an unruffled demeanour of an individual working within his legal rights, Ojulari, who claims to have ‘more than 10 cases’ on his hands, promises to see the matter through.
“The update is that I will be in Oshodi on Friday (today) to meet with some officials of the ministry. As of last Friday, all the lists that came out were for Junior Secondary School 1 pupils. The truth is that you cannot do anything through the school; you have to go through the ministry. Ordinarily, the ministry should release the list, but there is a delay. You can call me back on Friday (today), he adds.
Even as the Oyeyemis and the Ayodeles are bemoaning their fate, there are indications that the alleged shady deals are not limited to Lagos schools. Cases of racketeering and names disappearing on substantive admission lists are commonplace. According to a banker, Mr. Silas Olisa, an “agent” approached him last year inside the premises of the Kings College, a Federal Government school in Lagos, to help process admission for his son.
“We had chosen Kings College (for my son), and he had scored 123 in the first examination. He sat for the second exam but the result is not known till today since it was not published. We only saw admission lists pasted at the Kings College. On the lists were scores as low as 40 per cent but my son’s name was not there.
“I was about leaving the college premises when a lady approached me. She pretended as if she was checking the list on the board and asked in a whisper if my son’s name was there. I said no. Then she told me the admission could be ‘arranged’ for N200, 000.
“She said she knew someone in the Registrar’s office that could make my son’s name come out with the second batch. All they would do, according to her, was forward the names to Abuja and it would come back as the minister’s list. I thought about it, not only that I could not afford the sum, I thought the amount was too much to ‘arrange’ admission for a JSS 1 pupil. I told her I was not interested,’’ he says.
Olisa adds that it also took the intervention of the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mrs. Omolara Erogbogbo, to correct an anomaly which would have cost his son his admission last year.
The banker notes, “I went to Lagos Junior Model College, Badore, to obtain the list of boarding requirements for my son. Of course, I believed he would gain admission since I had seen his score at the Lagos State Exam Board; it was 75 per cent. But we were shocked not to see him listed among admitted pupils of the school. There were over 300 names listed with scores ranging from 60 to 85, but my son’s name was not there. We were not the only ones to receive the shock; there were other parents at the venue complaining that their wards scored more than 70 per cent but were not admitted.
“I was not going to give in to what I perceived as daylight robbery. It would be the second time within a month that my son’s name would be omitted on an admission list, even when I was certain he performed well in the examinations.
‘‘I quickly petitioned the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, highlighting my predicament. I was made to understand that the omission was due to computer error and that it would be rectified. It was rectified and my son was later admitted,’’ he explains.
Attempts to speak with the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, on Thursday failed, as calls to her number did not go through. However, a source in the ministry said parents fall victim to swindlers when they do not go through the appropriate channel to seek information on transfer issues.
“Matters like this are handled by the ministry. It is wrong to give money to a gateman or a teacher because of desperation. But we will look into the matter. The cases will be investigated and appropriate disciplinary action taken,’ the source adds.
However, an educationist, Dr. Segun Omisore says the development is a symptom of bigger entrenched issues in the polity. According to him, in a situation where many Nigerian parents cannot afford exorbitant tuition being charged by many private schools, there is the likelihood that they would fall victim to unscrupulous persons.
“We don’t have a viable education system and the racketeering is just a reflection of the situation we are in as a country. When there is decay in leadership, it goes round the entire sector. I have always advocated a holistic approach to addressing these challenges and this will not be an exception.
“I have a four-year -old, who is in nursery two and I pay N150,000 per term. There is another government school in Lekki, where I am responsible for the salary of a teacher. Two of my wards attend the school and there is a minimum of 120 pupils in a class. I had to employ additional teacher so that the class can be split into two,’’ he notes.
- Punch
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