Reconsider Govt’s free-fee Fode policy

THE recent announcement by the Government to finance all the fees for flexible open and distance education (Fode) students is unsound and needs to be relooked at.
We appreciate the idea of educating our dropouts and give them a chance of making their living through education, however, the reality of implementing this proposal is gloomy.
Fode centres in the country are in bad conditions and dysfunctional.
Many Fode centres struggle to operate without proper materials and resources.
As a result, they fail to achieve the required objectives of the Government.
If the Government is serious about giving our students a quality second chance, it should focus on:

• UPGRADING all existing Fode facilities throughout the country;
• EXTENDING facilities and resources to all districts and local level governments;
• ESTABLISHING guidelines and policy platforms to operate; and,
• APPOINTING permanent teachers or instructors to all Fode centres.

As a teacher, implementing and working under the tuition fee free (TFF) policy over the past years was a nightmare.
The notion of free education has resulted in a high number of enrolments in schools.
Teaching in overcrowded classrooms and struggling to source resources are daily problems teachers and students had to live with.
In addition, disciplinary problems posed by students are threats to teachers’ welfare.
Introducing free education policy with Fode coupled with TFF policy is a time bomb in the education sector. In the past years, the Government has struggled to implement TFF policy and in most instances it failed.
It is ridiculous for the TFF policy to be paralleled with the free Fode policy.
Few students are selected to further their studies compared to the majority that were turned down.
How can the Government cater for the majority of our students who were left out in the formal education?
Does the free Fode policy apply to the dropout students of last year and the years before? There is a backlog of dropouts throughout the country.
Imagine the number of the students who were left out in the formal education many years ago.
They will all front up the Fode centres and it will all be chaotic.
The Government should reconsider its decision to make Fode free.
I think the free Fode policy is not practical. We can take that on in the future when we’re ready.

Aruam
Bogia Educationist