Nigeria loses N1.5 trillion naira annually to foreign education

Nigeria spends over N1.5 trillion on students studying abroad, the Exam Ethics International, a non-governmental organisation, has said.

The chairman of the group said, annually, Ghana gets N160 billion of Nigerian students’ funds, while Nigerians spend over N80 billion on education in the United Kingdom.

The Chairman, Ike Onyechere, who said this in Abuja on Wednesday, said that the amount covers monies spent on scholarships, private and government owned institutions, and individuals.

Mr. Onyechere said there is a need to stop the trend to “prevent this huge economic loss.”

“This is the greatest negative balance of payment any country can suffer,” he said.

He attributed the development to the decay in the country’s educational sector and the incessant strikes which had disrupted schools’ calendar. He said the development has caused the country huge economic losses and seriously contributed to the under-development of the sector which is key to driving other sectors.

He stressed the need to overhaul the education sector, saying “unnecessary experimentation by those saddled with the responsibility of developing the sector would (not) prevent it from imminent collapse.”

The chairman said part of the overhaul should include the scrapping of some examination bodies that were making things worse.

“A body like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation (JAMB) for example is nothing but a calamity for the country. Check out the top 50 universities in world, how many of them have parastatals that regulate admissions?

“JAMB has gone through series of metamorphosis, yet it has nothing to show for it if not making access to education more difficult,” Mr. Onyechere said.

He said the introduction of an e-testing for candidates is another wrong step in the wrong direction.

Mr. Onyechere said every good education policy should take at least four years gestation period before its implementation process.

“For JAMB to just wake up one day and say it is introducing such a test is laughable.

“The idea of one body solely responsible for the admission of candidates into the many higher institutions we have in the country is totally unacceptable,” he said.

JAMB, had on November 1, launched the e-testing, a Computer Based Testing for candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME).

The education body said only a few percentage of students sitting for its examinations will use the e-testing in 2013 while all are expected to use it by 2015.

The Minister of Education, Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, had during the launch of the CBT described it as one of the transformative efforts of the government towards revamping the sector.

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/107056-nigeria-spends-n1-5-trillion-annually-on-students-studying-abroad-group.html

WTF!
That's almost $1 billion annually
And this is only for education, what of health and other sectors?
Nigeria is really phucked, really really

****Smdh****