By Martin Paul
Abuja
As a new schooling regime commences Monday throughout the country with the re-opening of first session for primary and secondary schools, parents are already groaning over the present economic recession.
Academic calendar of the country has put September of every year as the beginning of a new academic year, but the 2016 session has come with serious challenges as a result of economic crunch.
Indisputably, a new crop of kids, who have attended ages two to three, are expected to resume the nursery, while those who have completed the nursery would move to the primary, particularly at the public school system.
Similarly, those who have completed primary six would move to junior secondary, while their senior counterparts would proceed to senior secondary, just as those who secured the mandatory cut-off marks, would proceed to the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education as the case may be.
Records at our disposal showed that Nigeria has not experienced the kind of recession she is going through this year, a situation that might increase the out-of-school syndrome, which over 10 million children, including the vulnerable are affected.
The 2016 recession, unmistakably, is a watershed in Nigerian education in the sense that with high cost of commodities, couple with low circulation of money, parents would have it difficult to meet the requirements of training their children.
The ominous signs are everywhere, from pre-nursery to primary, secondary to tertiary levels, it is unarguably that most expensive schools would have low numbers of new intake and unprecedented levels of withdrawals, while public schools would be having more applicants in addition to the overpopulated classrooms.
Mrs. Juliet Onuora, a civil servant with three kids in primary and secondary schools, said she was already considering the withdrawal of her two children in junior and senior secondary to public school.
“The economic situation is biting harder, but this is era of change, so we must change so many things to be able to meet up with the challenges. I have agreed with my husband to withdraw my children to public schools, while the youngest will continue in the private primary school”, she said.
Mrs. Onuora, whose husband has been knocked out of contract business by the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and other new policies, said she was also going to reduce the amount of pocket money she was giving to her children.
“I would rather prefer food in the house than continue to encourage my children to buy petty things in schools. So, from the N250 I used to give them each day, I have to re-consider it”, she added.
The situation is not only peculiar to civil servant, a trader, who runs a supermarket in Lugbe, Ediomoabasi John, said: “I have four children, one in the university, one is awaiting admission and two in secondary schools. I can tell you that it is not easy.
“Feeding people who are already grown, in this dispensation called economic recession, is problematic. You will reason with me that besides putting money in their education, feeding consumes more particularly with high cost of commodities”, he said.
John said the alternative is to “adjust my belt” since it is incumbent on him to train his children and provide whatever they needed.
