Oshin: Thoughts on education emergency issues

I AM very glad to observe that The Guardian Newspaper has demonstrated its unrivaled leadership of the print media by showing serious concern on the abysmal level the Nigerian education sector has fallen into in the past 30 years. Rottenness starts innocuously until it infests the entire body and the worst place to start is the thinking faculty. Change a national leadership thought, change the perilous direction a nation would have heedlessly followed.

Our hydra-headed problems would have been easily identified, solved or resolved were they to have started yesterday. However, their genesis began years ago due to faulty reasoning about what constitutes development. I, and majority of our fellow citizens, may not be privy to the arguments for and against certain educational policies foisted on the nation and why some other policies were criminally unenforced or nonchalantly neglected.

At this juncture, a little clarification might be apt. It is improper to judge a process solely on the end result. Education happens to fall squarely in the category of a process. There are many stakeholders in the education process that to move positively forward, duties, responsibilities and sanctions should be disseminated aggressively if we desire certain gladdening results: It is not magic or voodoo or wishful thinking or planlessness that will make us “stumble and fumble” to the educational promised land. We must pray though for credible, patriotic, modern and forward looking leadership at all strategic strata of the educational sector.

To me the stakeholders are: Parents, school authorities, educational infrastructure, government policies, students, and the general public. The more modern, cute and aesthetically appealing a building looks, the more it has been erected with the full complements of sound professionals in the building/construction industry. I do not wish to dwell extensively on why we are where we are pretty sitting oblivious of the chasm that lies ahead and the deep crate of underdevelopment and gaping perilous education deficits that surround us as a nation. The pass mark in most examinations is 50 per cent except one international written examination which pass mark is 60 per cent and another one albeit objective examination which pass mark is 75 per cent. In climes that value professionalism, the first rank among the best closely followed by the second.

I will be very prescriptive for each stakeholder leaving each one to their devices, conscience and concerns.

• Parents must ensure academic discipline for their children and or wards. Notebooks should be checked every day or every week to see the quality of notes being given by teachers and being formed by the students where applicable. Parents must buy critical textbooks for their children. Minimum investments in this regard could be Mathematics and English text books especially from Junior Secondary School I-III. Above all homes must be education-friendly: hawking after school hours should be de-emphasized. A pupil ought to put in at least two hours of study daily and double that during weekends. Each home/family/parent must determine and enforce what is workable to achieve the type of academic success it envisages for pupils under its care. Paying of school fees should be prioritized so that those concerned students would be relaxed and composed to receive school lessons/lectures. Religious organizations should be enjoyed to preach or admonish parents to be more alive to their family duties and obligations to support government and law enforcement agencies. Media could champion this initiative by focusing more on family issues and give media space like those assigned to Sports, Entertainment, Arts and Religion.

• Schools should upgrade the facilities conducive to learning. Modest investments should be made on library, laboratories, creative arts material, sports and food and nutrition utensils and other materials. Special clubs like Literary and Debating Society, Mathematics Club, Press Club, Drama Society, Boys’ Scout and Girls Guide, Chess and Scrabble Club should be revived and actively supported by enthusiastic Principals and talented staff. The education students deserve ought to be rounded to prepare them for the real competitive world. The library should at least stock all the required reading list of the educational authorities including encyclopedia, Guinness book of records, wild animal discovery books, literary books on poetry, stories, plays, biographies. Inspection of schools should emphasize on these soft infrastructure.

• Ministry of Education/Supervisory Council for Education should devote a good percentage of their budget allocation to improving the education facilities of schools under their jurisdiction within the next 10 years following a development plan template that will not be unwisely tinkered with or jettisoned by succeeding administration. Measures of excellence should be discussed and agreed with all stakeholders with highly motivating incentives for schools, PTA, staff and students. School competitions should be vigorously supported. Emphasis should be more on rewarding school as a result of team efforts rather than solo performance. Special consideration should be given to career talks, inspirational speeches from captains of industry, leaders in other spheres of life on a district basis regularly so that students, staff and management would be motivated to strive for excellence. The three best students in public examinations should be supported to visit some educational disadvantaged schools to give speeches and interact with final year students. Scholarship should be given to excellent students in Mathematics and English Language right from Junior Secondary School to Ph. D. level. I feel strongly this is the major way to improving the success rate in WAEC/TUME examinations. Again the effect of this policy proposal may not be easily felt until about 10 years when an optimum number of Mathematics and English graduates would have been engaged to teach. Those graduates on scholarship under this scheme may be made to sign a bond to serve as secondary school teachers for four years after completing their studies. Boarding schools should be re-introduced and fully supported and supervised for disciplined staff as house masters/mistresses. Educational Trust Fund should be created both at the State and Local Government levels. The Fund, if created, may be devoted to upgrading the facilities in the schools.

• Corporate support for education should be actively sought. As Cowbell Mathematics national competition is boosting the interest in Mathematics, some of its prizes may be set aside for the winning school to acquire at least 10 good textbooks on Mathematics from JSS1 to SS3. Other corporate sponsors in telecommunications, oil and gas and the corporate finance, accounting and banking sectors could be motivated through tax rebates/holidays to support “revive the education sector initiative.”

• Students are to be encouraged and seriously motivated to consider carefully how they want their future to be. The Davidos’, The Tupacs’ and Tu Face’s reign will soon pass away and many celebrities of today may agonizingly wish to have completed their education before the journey to celebrity/stardom began. Education is the best legacy a family or nation can leave for his children or citizens respectively. They will do well to place themselves in a position that in future they will bless their family and nation. Education is the best way out of poverty and penury.

In conclusion, I feel as a citizen, I have made a modest contribution to addressing major critical issues confronting our beleaguered educational sector and if these little proposals of mine could only provide a catalyst for the needed change which other superior, enlightened stakeholders might provide insight for, I will feel fulfilled.

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