Why Public Schools Are In Shambles – Speaker Abbas

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has decried the poor situation of public primary and secondary schools in the country.

Tajudeen Abbas said public schools have become too poor that even public teachers “now have their children in private schools because they don’t even believe in what they are doing for a living.”

He lamented the government’s attitude towards public schools, regretting all politicians, rich businessmen and almost every parent send their children to private schools.

The Speaker stated this on Tuesday, in Abuja while speaking with students of selected primary and secondary schools, as part of events to mark his 59th birthday and Nigeria’s Independence Day.

In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, Abbas also blamed the proliferation of private schools and poor welfare for teachers as reasons for the poor situation of public schools.

Speaker Abbas said, “When we were growing up, there was no such thing as private school because everyone, including the Emir, the Commissioner, the Minister and the biggest business tycoon in the town had to take their children to the available public schools, everyone was interested in what happened there.

“For that reason, there was strict and adequate supervision of the teachers and those running the schools, which was why the standard was very high. But today it’s a different story altogether because even government officials no longer take their children to public schools due to the proliferation of private schools and the decline of standard in public schools.”

He called on the students to imbibe the spirit of hard work. He advised the students to avoid shortcuts in live but to always follow the process.

Abbas told the students that with hard work they can achieve their life ambitions.

“You have to imbibe the culture of hard work if you want your patriotism to impact on Nigeria. However, the current generation is a smart one that likes to use the shortcut to success without following due process. So please try to pay attention to details and follow due process. Also believe in yourself and work hard. It worked for me.

“I remember the shock on my father’s face when I told him I was going for my youth service because he never knew I was in the University. Because I believed in myself and doing better for myself, I took the challenge of going further on my own without actually having to bother my parents again,” he stated.

The Speaker reminded the students to need to abhor segregation based on tribe or religion but to unite with one another and work towards being great citizens of the country.

“When you love your neighbor the way you love yourself, relate with others the way you want them to relate with you, then your patriotism is well on its way to fruition. I look at every Nigerian, male or female, as one and the same. I look at your character as a factor for a good and purposeful relationship.

“If you look at my family background you will not see any issues of religious bias and even among my constituents so if you go to every religious sect in my constituency, you will see that I relate with them on equal basis. And same thing with the House. We are brothers, we see each other as brothers and as one.

“So children if you want your future to be better than what we have now, you must strive to eradicate the disease of ethnicity, religious sentiment and look at the greater picture,” he added.