By Akinwale Kasali
Time was when Textbooks usage in Nigeria Schools was passed from one generation to another, but this has suddenly become a thing of the past.
Despite the increasing expenditure and low purchasing power of Nigerians occasioned by high inflation rate and the economic misfortunes bedeviling the nation, Private Schools have further inflicted more economic pains on Nigerian Parents over wasteful textbooks imposed on pupils and students by the management of Private Primary and Secondary Schools Nationwide.
Before now, questions in textbooks were solved inside note books, irrespective of the subjects, but this has become a thing of the past, as students now solve and answer questions inside the textbooks.
The longevity and usefulness of the textbooks are now narrowed to a year and for the particular student who is using it, with no future relevance and usefulness for the upcoming generation.
Speaking on this development, aggrieved and concerned Parents have called for an end to a wasteful system adopted by private schools and textbook publishers, which has left them with piles of unused textbooks, at a time it’s difficult to meet many financial obligations.
Aderonke Akinnugba, a Parent, who has Three Children in a Private Primary School said that purchasing textbooks every session are not always necessary when older siblings’ books could be reused by the younger ones, but, the inclusion of homework and class works in textbooks nowadays has totally rendered such textbooks useless for reuse by younger siblings.
It would be recalled that an On-Air Personality, OAP, Joy Bassey Ekpenyong, known as ‘Oyoyo Baby’, took to the Social Media, calling out Private Schools for indulging in such practices, at a time when the economic situation is unbearable.
She alleged the connivance of Publishers and Proprietors of Private Schools on milking Parents of their hard earned money with such practice, which wasn’t the norm over a decade ago
Oyoyo Baby lamented that it is becoming unbearable for parents to shoulder the textbook burden amid current economic challenges in the country.
“Look at the textbooks my children used in the last academic session. Just look at these textbooks, they are all written in. The mathematics textbook is all written in and will render it useless for other children to use.
“We are spending money on these books, and now I’m planning to give them to Akara Seller because the textbooks are many and my house is not a library, and I can’t give them out to others because it is not useful for them as well,” she said.
The OAP, who recalled her days in school said, text books are passed to younger siblings.
“If you buy a textbook then, you could use it for years and pass it on to another family if your children no longer need it. But now, what are we seeing?
“It’s because school owners and publishers are exploiting parents, especially in private schools. If a parent has five children in private school, a child who just graduated from primary school cannot pass on the books to their younger sibling starting in primary school. Why is it like this?
“We shouldn’t keep buying books only to throw them away or give them to Akara sellers. Just look at these textbooks, especially the computer textbooks—is the concept of a computer changing every year? Yet, we are forced to buy new ones every year. These textbooks are of no use now, and I can’t even pass them on to someone else,” she pointed out.
In the same vein, Justina Osuala, another concerned parent, expressed her frustration about the costly and wasteful textbook system.
Osuala, a Mother of Two, who attends the same said: “I use to buy textbooks, but now I struggle to afford them. The problem is, the schools have adopted a system where you buy textbooks and do all the work in the textbooks, which won’t allow younger ones to use the textbooks their older siblings used, even though the curriculum remains the same.”
Another concerned parent, moshood Ijagbemi, complained bitterly about the exploitative strategies been used by private schools on Parents, by requiring New Textbooks every Term, despite minimal changes.
“They just asked the publishers to change the cover and add some unnecessary content, making it impossible for others to use the same book. As a result, we are forced to buy new textbooks every session, which are often barely used,” she stressed.
She recalled instances where her children’s textbook didn’t even reach halfway by the end of the session.
“It’s pointless, putting into consideration that the textbook becomes useless after one child finishes the class, and another child can’t use it. Yet, some teachers expect we, the parents, to be buying new textbooks, even when parent can’t afford it. In the olden days, textbooks are passed for younger ones for reuse and this cut down expenses on textbook”.
This practice has however become a norm among the Private Schools, prompting Abdulazeez Daisi, another aggrieved Parent to describe the situation as damaging to the income of parents, who have continue to grumble about the high cost of textbooks while rhe recommended books for pupils in Nursery and Primary Schools have become unaffordable.
Daisies said, hence, there is a need to review the policy of having workbooks in textbooks, which has made it impossible to pass over to other wards in a family.
It was gathered by this Magazine that this practice has sparked up controversies in most Schools during the Parents-Teachers Association, PTA, Meetings, as Parents continue to complain bitterly about this practice, yet, these, Schools remain defiant to this practice.
Nse Faith, another concerned Mother narrated her ordeal in the School her Wards attends. She said the private school her children attends is worse, noting that, everything they do there is to generate money’.
Recalling a time she paid for textbooks, and some of the textbooks did not come, and the session finished.
“I informed the school that another of my daughters will use the textbooks since the other child did not use them; they said sorry, it is not possible. I am a New principal. You can settle that with the old one because I have to make my account balance so I can tender to the school owner.
“Schools and publishers are using parents to make money. Because the more textbooks we are buying, the more they publish and get their money.
“The more we are buying, the more they are selling. And the funny thing is that when you buy for the new session, the younger one will still buy theirs if it is still the same curriculum or syllabus. But if you buy and the Junior ones can still make use of it, then they won’t be selling more and will reduce the burden on parents to look for money to buy textbooks.”
Adeolu Ogunbanjo, Deputy National President of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, repressed hat if students must learn, then they must learn well.
“Buying textbooks with workbooks is fine because that is the order of the day. Elsewhere, not just in the state, not just in Nigeria, but everywhere in the world, is the practice. Education is education. We need to also ensure that we move up to speed as parents,” she stated.
As regards working in major textbooks, Ogunbanjo said: “There should always be a provision for workbooks alongside major textbooks. Where that is not possible, then the second option will be to buy exercise books so students can do work in them.
“If you cannot buy a workbook, then buy exercise books so that teacher will give you one from the textbook where you will work”.
Enitan Alaba Adewunmi, Spokesperson, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, exonerated Public Schools from such practice, saying that, “For pupils in Lagos public schools, they don’t buy books as the books they are using are supplied by the Universal Basic Education.
“So, if you are about parents complaining about books that can’t be transferred to other Wards, those are Private schools, not in Government Schools because they don’t buy books; the Government usually take care of that.”
