NIGERIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AN OVERVIEW BY STARR EZIOMA AMAKODI The deplorable state of Education in Nigeria calls for serious concern among the government and the stakeholders (parents, teachers, students and employers of labour). Going down the memory lane is essential for us to know where we are coming from, where we are today and where we are heading to. Gone are those days when just having 5 credits in your O level (Maths and English included) gave the alluring impression of an above average student, and having 8 distinctions and 1 credit were results reserved for the genuis (exceptionally brilliant ones). Even as the best graduating student and best English Language student in the government owned secondary school I attended, I could still remember looking into my O level result and wondering how I got a C6 in English. Tough luck, I must confess. Thats how education was then. I do not claim to have enjoyed the best that Nigeria education offered in its prime but looking back, I think its far better than what suffice now. What do we have now? Any Tom, Dick and Harry flash Olevel results for all to see with outright incredible grades yet they could hardly say/write a complete sentence in English. Same applies to other subjects, or how else can someone who had B3 in Mathematics have problems with solving factorization. If you are one of those saying, Its not everyone thats good in Maths, then count yourself among those I am pointing accusing fingers at. During my preclinical years in the university, I once tried organizing WAEC and JAMB preparatory tutorials for students in my area but got the surprise of my life when one of the chaps asked me about the arrangements I have made for Special Centres. Not that Im hearing that for the 1st time but coming from a boy that had not even attempted any of such exams and the level of details he gave was so disheartening. All efforts to prove that the tutorials will be enough proved abortive. JAMB exams are not left spared as well, even with numerous strategies devised to curtail exam malpractices, its still the same old story. A handbill for a tutorial class was like, Embarrass UTME by scoring above 280. I jus smiled and walked away thinking about our time. Was it that JAMB exams have gotten simpler or this same students have become more brilliant than we were? These were questions begging for answers but I guess we all know now. My admission to the university was a bit delayed, maybe 5 yrs late in a bid to secure Medicine on merit. Imagine what could happen in 5 yrs. So, I entered with a new breed/generation of students, who were so proud to flash their results during registration. I was forced to cover mine with a blank A4 paper with the feeling that Im the dunce among them. Fortunately, I had an edge over them in the exams (5 yrs for house na joke?) and most of them were forced to come to me for tutorials (which automatically translates to free food for me)Winks The so called lecturers are not left out as some will have to dictate a whole textbook written by another author/colleague/HOD as lecture notes and you begin to wonder if that person himself studied that area in the university. If becoming a lecturer is all about reading out notes to us, then all of us can equally fit in that position. Another sad aspect of university education is having to write down answers to questions in the lecturers own words. Thats how to pass well. It was a game of Survival of the Crammers. This kills creativity as well as the area of consulting textbooks to understand the course better. For the project writers, its a game of Edit, Copy & Paste. Plagiarism has become the order of the day. Also, the private universities are not left out. After all, is it not the same lecturers that exuberate dominance in govt owned institutions that humbly teach in this private schools. I stand to be corrected on this. A lecturer that dont know how to browse the internet or create a PowerPoint presentation and yet they will still embark on strike asking for more pay. I could remember vividly few years back when Etisalat stated emphatically that they needed applicants for their Graduate Trainee Programme irrespective of the course of study. I learnt from a reliable source that they employed all 1st class and virtually all 2nd class upper candidates that applied. If you have been a member of Association of Unemployed Graduates since then, you dont need to explain, we understand your situation. Nairalanders are not even left out of this decadence. Yoi see a topic on front page and when you quickly take a peep into it, its a different story entirely. If you cant present a suitable title for your post, how then can you write a business proposal, application letter, letter of invitation, letter of reference, etc. I shake my head. The use of English on nairaland is no poor that we may have to beg the administrators to include a grammar check software to save us from persistent gunshot. Bastardization of the use of tenses, word structure, concord, and what have we, all exist. I always have my fun moments though. Association of Unemployed Graduates. Lol! You need to see the written English of some posters (not all) in this section. Practically, unemployable English. No offence intended. You also start wondering what planet most posters come from. From the End time things posters whose only sensible thing to say is thus. Imagine being in an interview and they ask you to comment on an issue and all you have to say is End Time Things. My brother, your employment letter is reserved for you in Heaven. The 1st to comment people kinda make me wonder of our educational system is breeding intellectuals or clowns. Rather, I should ask my able moderators if there is a prize attached to making such annoying proclamation. And for those who think using the pen for tribal bashing is fun, my guesses are that you either didnt pass through a higher institution or the higher institution you claim to attend didnt pass through you. I am not sorry to say this. As a way of concluding this piece, reality shows, musicals and sports are fast replacing educational programmes on screen. A below average student can authoritatively tell you how many goals Messi scored in his career, how much Mikel Obi currently earns, who won the champions league in 2002 including the top goal scorer then, the winners of MTN project fame from inception till date, where Davido is this afternoon and what he ate this morning, etc. Why cant they channel this energy and obsessive information seeking into their education and/research and lets see how things will go from there. These are the same set of people that cannot tell you the first president Nigeria had or tell you the second line in the National Anthem yet d unreleased remixed version of Skelewu is in this their skull. All stakeholders and the government must wake up to their responsibilities. What the future holds for our educational sector and our youth, all I can say is, Time will definitely tell.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:56:18 +0000
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