My Administration is Poised Promoting Quality Education – Kamal

Alhaji Kamal, Lagos State NAPPS President, in this interview with 6334reporters, highlights some remarkable programmes that his administration has initiated since he took over the mantle of leadership of the association from Otunba Yomi Otubela (FCMA) who is now the National Deputy President of the association. He also recommended measures that could be taken by members of the association and government to further strengthen the collective bid towards achieving quality education in the state. Excerpts:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

I am the proprietor of the Supreme Pillars College, located in Badagry Local Government. I was elected to lead this noble association on March 2015. My administration was later inaugurated on June 2015. June 2016, will mark a year of my piloting the affairs of this association. Having realized that NAPPS was established with the core objective of nurturing functional development within the educational sector, I was inspired to take an elective position in order to contribute my quota. I have found fulfillment in being part of that energetic team, charged with the responsibility of upgrading the sector to an enviable height. It is, therefore, my wish to transform this noble dream into reality. I believe this is achievable considering the level of the support I have garnered from other executive members.

IN SPECIFIC TERMS, PLEASE HIGHLIGHT SOME OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS WITHIN ONE YEAR IN THE SADDLE?

So far in Lagos State, my administration has been able to mobilize our members towards ensuring that they deliver quality education in the state, in order to justify every token paid by parents towards the education of their children. We have also performed creditably well in the area of strengthening our partnership with Lagos State Ministry of Education, through the Quality Assurance Department. We have supported the department in its supervisory role of ensuring that private school owners in the state deliver on their mandate to provide quality education in the state.

The Director-General has proven to us that she is in deed a passionate mother. She has been of immense support to all our members. Recently, she was invited by the association to deliver lectures in some of the specific areas that we believe are germane to our growth. She has made presentations in seminars and workshops organized by NAPPS in partnership with the state government. Some of her presentations have gone a long way in assisting our members to have a clear understanding of the expectations of government from the private operators. Our members in return, have put up all necessary measures in order to ensure that they realize these overall goals in their respective schools.

WHAT HAWS THE ASSOCIATION DONE IN THE AREA OF REDUCING THE OVERBEARING IMPACT OF MULTIPLE TAXATION TO BAREST MINIMUM?

The issue of multiple taxation is paramount to my administration. We have  discussed some of the negative aspects of multiple taxation in our operations  with Lagos State government. We recently met with Alhaja Idiat Adebule, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, on the need to ensure that the taxes are harmonized and streamlined for private schools in the state. She has promised to address this age-long issue that has continued to prove a major challenge to our operations. We have reported the recent increase in annual dues to the Deputy Governor. We also realized that the charged are instituted without the knowledge of the Permanent Secretary and the Deputy Governor, since they were not in office when the development was initiated and implemented. They have also shown consideration to our plight by asking the agency in charge to shelve the charges due to the economic situation in the country. On the broad, the government officials and NAPPS have built a cordial relationship that has contributed significantly to the progress presently recorded in the state. I am happy with this development and I am committed to doing more over the next few years.

WHAT CORE AREAS DO YOU WISH TO TOUCH IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

My administration is intensifying efforts to build on the achievements of Chief Yomi Otubela. We have strengthened information dissemination among our members. Most of them get regular updates of our programmes through all the channels of communication that we have adopted. We have also deepened  the level of co-operation among members, EXCOS and the officials of the Ministry of Education. We are committed to properly coordinating operations within the private school system in the state. We have also paid a courtesy visit to the Lagos State House of Assembly to discuss legislative problems peculiar to NAPPS. One of such occasions, we got an audience with Hon. Ogunyemi, the Chairman of the Education Committee, who has also recommended for the House issues that will smoothen out our operations in the state. We hope to build on this huge partnership especially from both executive and legislative arms of government. More seminars and workshops would be organized to consolidate on programmes that we have initiated in the past one year. Recall that we had earlier inaugurated Mathematics and English programmes, monitored and supervised by the executive members in order to deepen the knowledge of our students or pupils in these core subjects. There has been significant increase in member ship strength over the years. Next month, we are planning to host the South-West conference in Lagos at Ostral Hotel and we are expecting our National President to be present at the occasion.

NUMERICAL STRENGTH OF REGISTERED PRIVATE SCHOOLS UNDER NAPPS WORKING WITH THE GOVERNMENT IS VERY LOW COMPARED WITH THE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS THAT EXIST IN THE STATE. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE?

Our numerical strength for now cannot be actually ascertained and there are a numerous reasons for that; but for now, I can just say we have more than 2,000 active members. The reason some of the left out members haven’t shown up is because of government policies. Their thought is that once the government knows of their presence, they will be subjected to multiple taxation and we are trying to erase that erroneous belief so that they can see reason and be part of the association. More so, in this country we have freedom of association, which means that we have different associations in the education sector. This indicates that not only NAPPS exists in Lagos. The total number of associations on education in Lagos is up to 18 but NAPPS is more viable than others and our strength supersedes others. I know as time goes on we will be able to give more data of our members.

TO WHAT EXTENT HAS PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 

IMPACTED ON THE FINANCIAL STATUS OF YOUR MEMBERS, IN TERMS OF ACCESS TO LOANS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THEIR FACILITIES?

Some of the financial institutions have offered loan facilities to our members as a way of supporting us. We have deliberately opened this opportunity for those that have the capacity to borrow. We have only ensured that there is a smooth transaction between all the parties involved. We have members that have benefitted from these efforts. We have also opened up to other financial institutions that are willing to join their competitors in this capacity.

WHAT MEASURES HAVE YOU PUT IN PLACE TO ENSURE THAT THE CONDITIONS FOR ACCESSING THE LOANS FROM BANKS BY YOUR MEMBERS ARE REASONABLE?

On our own part we have ensured that there is a smooth and unhindered access to getting some of the loans from the banks. Since the financial institutions also have their own policy which is paramount to the issuance of loans, we do not have the capacity to circumvent the corporate policies. What we have only done for some of our members that could not meet up with the conditions of the banks, is that they can approach NAPPS Multi-purpose Cooperative, which every of our members belongs to. Having signed up to the Cooperative, they can have access to loans at one-digit interest rate. This programme is strictly provided for our members alone. Non-members cannot apply, because the conditions for registration are clearly stated.

IS IT IN NAPPS’s PROGRAMMES TO GIVE OUT SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE HIGH RATE OF ILLITERACY AND POVERTY?

It is in our programme to ensure that our members embrace giving scholarships to the less-privileged amongst their students. Chief Yomi Otubela, the Deputy National President of NAPPS, who is my predecessor, has a foundation (Yomi Otubela Foundation) that gives scholarship annually to both private and government schools students. Quite a huge number of students have benefited from this programme. We also encourage our members to contribute in their own little way to take in as many indigent students as they possibly can, to ensure literacy-inclusion. For now, NAPPS is still evolving ideas as to how to structure its own scholarship programme.

WHAT CURRICULUM DOES THE ASSOCIATION ADOPT FOR ITS MEMBERS’ USAGE?

We have not limited our members to the adoption of one universal curriculum. Most of us operate within the scope of guidelines recommended by both the Federal and State governments on school curriculum. We also follow the syllabus recommended by all the national examining bodies including NABTEB, WAEC, and NECO. Some of our members have also combined both British and Nigerian curriculum in order to expand the scope of their students. For now, we have not restricted our members to the use of any curriculum.

HAS THE NEW SCHOOL CALENDAR INITIATED BY LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT DISTORTED THE PROGRAMMES OF NAPPS?

Within the last few years, we have not recorded any form of distortion in the structure of our school calendar. Although government has a calendar which it recommended for both private and public schools, we do not have an issue with this, as it has not in any way affected our operations.

DO YOU SUSCRIBE TO THE BELIEF THAT NIGERIAN SCHOOLS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE AND THE NEED TO REGULARIZE THE FEES CHARGED?

I do not believe this; in fact private education in the state is still affordable when compared with other countries. In Lagos State, some of our members have relative charges that reflect the economic conditions of the citizens of the state. While it could be true that some of our members charge high fees due to contingent factors, yet there are some that charge reasonable fees. Our charges are flexible and affordable. There is no way we can regularize the fees being charged by our members, because most of the schools are situated in both cities and suburbs, hence variations in the amounts charged. Some have also invested heavily in infrastructure development, environment and facilities to ensure quality and standard education, and also to make learning conducive for their students. With these aforementioned factors, it will be difficult to fairly regulate fees charged by our members. There are so many conditions that are factored into some of these charges, which as far as I am concerned are reasonable enough.

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO ABOUT THE MOBILITY OF STUDENTS FROM ONE SCHOOL TO ANOTHER?

We are not doing anything different to coordinate mobility of students from one school to the other, due to conditions beyond our reach. We are not unaware of the economic situation in the country. The choices made by parents are relative and cannot be coordinated. What we have only advised our members to do is to continue to adopt strategies to avoid undue withdrawal  of their students. Parents will not withdraw their children from schools where quality education is being entrenched.