Mass failure: Could ICT have made the difference?

WHEN the Information and Communications Technology,ICT, revolution began in Nigeria at the beginning of this century, stakeholders in the eduction sector were upbeat about what it holds for the sector.

Indeed there was a near-unanimous feeling that for a sector that had suffered so much as a result of failed government policies, the advent of the internet was a welcome development as it guarantees  access to a vast wealth of knowledge, facilitate easy research as well as create an environment for innovative learning.

Initially expectations in this regard were not misplaced as access to the internet helped in closing the global information gap. But despite promising prospects, especially the fact that most Nigerian students had enthusiastically embraced ICT in a big way, influencing and dictating their conducts in every day life, investigations by VanguardFeatures, VF, showed an emerging discontent about its role in the education sector.

This explains why parents, students and professionals will not readily isolate ICT from the increasing mass failure of students in public examinations. This was brought to the fore by the recent May/June West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination results, which showed that less than 32 per cent of candidates obtained credit passes in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

Speaking to VF on the matter, President of Save Eduction Coalition, SEC, Dr Bonaventure Anyiam, observed that there is a nexus between the recent mass failure and the internet revolution. Specifically, he said such link should not be misinterpreted as the internet being the harbinger of failure in public examinations.

‘’Much as the the internet age is a boost for the sector, we should not be in the dark as to the relationship that exists between ICT and failure. This requires a careful analysis because the sector can not even survive a second without relying on the internet. So that shows you the umbilical relationship,’’ he added.

Wrong application of ICT

Furthering his argument, Anyiam said: ‘’Regrettably the history of mass failure in schools predated the ICT age but it assumed larger proportion in this age. I still find it difficult to define the time students spend on the internet as waste. Even when they are not visiting any academic website, being on the internet is all about the learning because it involves reading and research. However, I will cautiously advise that students should spend less time on websites that scarcely boost their academic capacity.’’

A piece titled: The Importance Of Internet To Students Of Academic Institutions In Nigeria (a Case Study Of Imo State Univeristy Owerri) also supported Anyiam’s position. ‘’The different categories of internet websites are used by students and their reasons for using them depend on the individual users. The findings also reveal that the students utilize the internet in order to assist them in their various research works and thereby providing the needed information in their field of interest,’’ it noted.

A professor of Mathematics with the Tai Solarin University of Education, Professor Abayomi Arigbabu, said ICT is not the problem but wrong application on the part of the students.

Arigbabu, who is currently on sabbatical at the Department of Science and Technology, University of Lagos, UNILAG, said: ‘’ Information Communication Technology, ICT, is supposed to be an enabler to enhance teaching and learning, make students understand better and make learning easier and interesting if properly used. Many of them are usually on Facebook for hours chatting and engaging themselves in unprofitable things rather than using it for learning. You can search for educative materials on the internet and that can take you a number of hours, but if care is not taken one can spend the same hours searching for unprofitable items.’’

Before advent of social media

Accordingly, he said: ‘’Any good thing can be put into bad use but this depends on the user; no matter how good a thing is, it can damage a lot of things if not properly applied. But as elders, the responsibility rests on us to encourage the youths to use ICT succinctly. We should let them realise that whenever they are on the internet, they should use the hours to source for materials that will enhance their knowledge and things that will expose them to good ideas rather than using it for unprofitable things.’’

Flashing back, Arigbabu stressed thus: ‘’Before the advent of social media, a child can stay on the television from morning till night watching programmes that will not add meaning to his life. Also, there are a number of television programmes which are highly educative and can increase the students’ knowledge but some students prefer watching other channels with non useful programmes.’’

President of Adeniran Okusanya College of Education AOCOED, Comrade Saka Gbenayon, blamed the situation on a lot of factors ranging from improper preparation on the part of students, love for social activities and parental upbringing among others.

‘’Mass failure in WAEC has been running for more than a decade. For instance, many parents have neglected their parental roles but aid their children in examination malpractices, while teachers no longer play their civic roles or teach students proper use of ICT,” he noted.

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of BookReach Promotions, Mr. Andrew Odioko said: ‘’We have been in the era of ICT for about 20 years, so anybody who is yet to follow the terrain will have himself to blame. The mass failure in WAEC was not a surprise to many because students know how to use the social media to make calls, chat or organise telephone conference, but when it comes to applying this to education, they simply tell you, they are not ICT compliant.”

Students abuse purpose of ICT

In addition, an ICT expert with BOFEM Scepters, Mr. Samuel Akinleru regretted that many students are yet to key into the purpose of ICT.

‘’If the purpose of a thing is unknown, abuse is inevitable. ICT is not the problem but the students who fail to key into it. ICT is like a two-edged sword. For instance, many use it to gather knowledge while others only use it to watch blue films or other programmes which are detrimental to knowledge.

‘’When I wrote my project a couple of years back, ICT helped me a lot in terms of research but some of my colleagues usually stay on the internet for hours to engage in illicit affairs and this has caused distractions to them. The supposed time for academic growth has been diverted to frivolities and they turn around to blame WAEC. Most students spend hours on the internet just to chat or do frivolities while such purpose should have been used to engage in studying.’’

Way out

Proffering a way out, Akinleru, said: ‘’Way out is government should regulate the influx of X-rated sites and sensitise students on the better ways of making use of the ICT.”

Corroborating that, Gbenayon added thus: ‘’The solution is to make educational website and applications accessible on phone and this to be introduced into the school curriculum in place of Facebook or Twitter. Students should be discouraged from spending quality time on phone than reading books. Many students waste time chatting and pinging or watch European League, talent shows instead of conducting educational research.”

Tweet