Editor's Note

                                                    Investing in Education

Mark Twain once said, “An investment in Knowledge past the best interest.” Sometimes the quality of education your child gets depends on what the school is paying.  That is why we have schools for high-income earners, middle-income earners and low-income earners. What you have as a parent will determine where your children or wards will go to or get a form of education within the four walls of the classroom.

An investment in education is worth it. Every parent is proud whenever he or she sees his child receiving a prize, award or some for of consolation in reward for intellectual prowess.

Education determines the economic and architecture of the world. No country would survive without educating its citizenry and preparing them for the challenges of the future whether it is technological, political, socio- economic or psychological change.

No wonder a former American President, Bill Clinton once said, “Every six year American must be able to read and write, every twelve year old must be able to log-on into the internet, every eighteen years old should be able to go to college and every twenty one year old should be able to continue learning for a lifetime.”

Lagos is the Centre of Excellence and pacesetter when it comes to education and In fact in other technological innovations, infrastructure and other things. If you want to look at how education is faring in the state, you need to ask who is at the helms of affairs. That is why I would like to commend our amiable Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his giant strides in education. The expertise, pedigree and adroitly of the Honorable Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo is worthy of note here. This is because no one succeeds alone.

It still amazes me why Lagos is rolling out the standardized, qualitative and unalloyed comprehensive schools in the state despite the fact that education is free in Lagos state. The recent commissioning of some of the schools in Ibeju- Lekki beats all standard in some of highly-prized private schools in high-brow area in the state. With these state-of-the-art facilities put in place in these newly-commissioned schools and others still in the pipeline or awaiting commissioning, are we still surely (or hopeful) that education will still be free in Lagos state? I guess you are asking the same question too (in your mind).

It is with all these that I say our Governor is working, even if we are not feeling the impact in other areas, but for education, he has done ‘noble’.

‘Genius are born; not made’. This quote aptly describes, Khalifa, a six-year old genius who broke fresh ground in the area of coding and programming. I don’t know a chap of that tender age come about that. At his age, what could he be thinking? When I was at his age, I doubt if I had such inkling. Why would I even teach of such when there are no mobile phones when I was a child or schooling until I finished university? 

These days, young people are coming up with astounding discoveries and innovation that would be the adult imagination, even that of scientists and innovators. Whiz kids are taking the centre stage in gaming, animation, invention, innovation, acting, creativity, or even finding solution to the challenges we find it difficult to unravel in our society.

The other day some chaps developed an app to combat kidnapping and Boko Haram activities. So why won’t any right-thinking parent or government invest in education? We might be sitting on the dynamite if the finding meant for education, research, scholarship, etc are embezzled by gullible politicians? The earlier we start re-thinking the need to give the right type of education, the better for us. Not the type of education that would eventually make our graduate job-seekers, but becoming employers of labour think-tank, innovators, scientists and futurists. The time is now as their future can’t wait.