By Basheer Luqman Olarewaju
We all live in a society which has its own set of spoken/unspoken rules, and one of them is education. Society expects you to go to school followed by college, get a job, settle down etc. In fact, education helps you become a useful member of society. An educated member certainly has a greater chance to contribute to his community. Education helps you become an active member of society and participate in the ongoing changes and developments. Albeit, quality teachers are a bigger factor that birth quality education.
Education clearly is a driver of better productivity giving rise to higher competitive ability and hence more jobs and higher economic growth rates, which enables more money to be invested in, for instance, better and quality education. It is a virtuous circle. It is conspicuous that education quantity and quality have a distinct impact on the socio-economic progress of any human society by improving productivity and competitiveness. It is also unambiguous to know that using education as a means of fostering understanding of cultures increases the level of tolerance in a region as diverse as Kwara State.
It is certainly mind soothing to understand that the economic progress that a quality education brings delivers better jobs and more jobs, which in turn offer the citizens of any society more choice in what they do with their lives and indeed the lives of their children. It is also clear that the belief that we have choices in our lives builds contentment.
Incontrovertibly, quality education is an antidote to societal menace and an important precursor to society building. It is clear in Kwara State that government support through investment in infrastructural rehabilitation and human resources support in repositioning the decaying image of our education system exist. To make the intentions of government a reality, though, requires parents, teachers and government to work together to build a quality approach to quality education.
The goal of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, is crystal clear, the inputs, processes and outputs measured and individual and collective accountability taken to deliver education which is of a quality and quantity that builds the Kwara we want to live and work in. A great society is defined by its shared history, culture, language(s) and sometimes religion. This definition is, by the nature of its measures, backwards-looking. It defines a society based on what it has been to give some sense of what it is now and what it might be.
Kwara’s population growth rates and unemployment levels are a few of the criteria used to describe its pitiable condition prior to the emergence of Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq led-administration. Fortunately, even the most fierce critic can equally well describe what makes the state today, how quickly life is changing for better, not for worse and with a higher degree of accuracy, what the future will be like.
The news about the Kwara State Government monumental success outcome from the TESCOM and SUBEB recruitment process got the lovers of the Government to reinvent their respective beliefs and reinstall their confidence in the possibility of having the Kwara State of their dream. One wouldn’t be surprised to see certain antagonists trying so hard to discredit the process, an unfulfilled attempt from the beginning to the end. They (critics) asked, what is special in the process? Anyways, it is a proverbial “even If you dance in the water, your enemies will still accuse you of causing dust”.
If you are ever asked about the special features of the first of its kind Teachers’ recruitment process in the state, give a rebuttal with; what of tolerance, equality of opportunity and the sense of a united purpose? These criteria measure the future of our state as certainly as socio-economic, socio-political and ethno- religious fundamentals and the history of the state of harmony. They describe the capability of a civic and harmonious society based on a common identity and loyalty to all set of political ideas and institutions.
His Excellency, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq holds the philosophy that, to build a society, therefore one must consider the past to build a common purpose for the future based on today’s capabilities. The education of Kwara’s children in its shared history and cultures is significant in developing the tolerance required for the state to prosper. A shared understanding of the contributions of all ethnic backgrounds in the development of Kwara aids in the understanding of the benefits to be gained by future cooperation and the reinforcement of the elements of identity which are common.
It is certainly clear that we have got headway towards an inspiring future. The future of our education system is being remodelled by this administration to meet the standard of the 21st century. With(out) gainsaying, the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration deserves applause. This administration midwife a realistic and achievable dream of Kwarans on securing the state’s job as sons and daughters of nobody and without lobbying anybody but on merit laced with the due, transparent, and unambiguous process.
If we want to see the world as a just and fair place where everyone is given equal opportunities, education is what we require. Education is a must if we want to do away with the existing differences between different social classes and genders. It opens a whole world of opportunities for the poor so that they may have an equal shot at well-paying jobs. Education also plays a major role in women empowerment. As part of the many things to reshaping our education system, the teacher’s recruitment process is pivotal. The Government would work on befitting and sustainable remuneration and capacity development programs to train and retain our teachers. In today’s Kwara, let’s embrace the good work of this administration.
