Recently, I wrote an article which i kinda liked and i thought to share...enjoy the read!
In his summary of the first year of the Nelson Mandela
Children’s Fund (1996), Nelson is noted to have said that ‘there can be no
keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its
children’. If any credence is to be given to the above statement, then it would
be right to say that the failing health of the Nigerian educational system is
consequent upon the pervading ill-health of the nation. Like every sector of
the Nigerian nation, the education system in the country cries for fresh air in
the midst of the choking smoke of corruption. For the sake of clarity, corruption
denotes the dishonest exploitation of power for personal gain. So to say that
corruption is gradually gaining ascendency in the stream of consciousness of
most Nigerians is to make a statement not devoid of truth.
Looking at the Nigerian education system in retrospect, one
would realize that like our political system, we are yet to master the system
we inherited from our colonial past. We seem to be fiddling and experimenting
with it while interpreting its operation by our limited exposure to it.
Education is beyond the school uniforms, weekly school assembly and the not so consistent
appearance of teachers in class. It involves more complex details and requires
more attention than we bestow to it. It is empowerment, transformation and
impact. It can be likened to an extreme make-over show, where a person walks in
to the show with many defects, a weak self esteem and a desire to be better, and
is transformed by a series of rehabilitating programs. Such a person walks out
of that place believing he can conquer the world because he believes he has
been shown how to conquer himself and empowered to face the world. The kind of
education we currently operate is one that is yet to do justice to youth
empowerment. When one listens to the
undergraduates of these days, one is forced to wonder what the years in
secondary school were spent achieving. So we ask the question: What exactly is
wrong with our own system of education?
Having garnered some level of experience from teaching in
both private and federal academic institutions and my own schooling experience,
I have noted one major cause of our debilitating academic standards: The
dwarfed, underdeveloped nature of the system itself. We all agree that the
world is a global village but the most interesting unsaid part of that
statement is the fact that the world wasn’t always global but it grew to its
current status. I have noticed with keen interest how we struggle to develop
other spheres of life but have given little attention to education. These days,
development in the education sector is synonymous to more blocks of classroom,
free education and more educational materials. These things are good but are
nothing in comparison to the cutting edge academic achievements of other
countries. In my opinion, our educational system is yet to take giant strides
towards growth and its attendant development. Our approach has been one that
displays mediocrity rather than a determination to liberate our society from
the shackles of poverty and educational backwardness. For instance, only a
handful of secondary schools in Nigeria organize tutorial classes for students
who are ‘slow’ in learning and need extra attention. We rather have
afternoon/evening classes organized by schools, aimed at helping teachers
complete their syllabuses and make more money; and tutorial institutes which
basically prepare students for WAEC, NECO and JAMB examinations. But that is
not the case in more developed countries. In the United States for instance,
schools organize tutorial programs, where the most brilliant students in class
volunteer to help their colleagues who need academic help. These special
sessions are supervised by the school authority but handled by students. These
sessions end up achieving two things: the student tutors are given the
opportunity to read wider and assimilate more, while the tutees also have the
chance to gain what they missed and ask questions they couldn’t ask their
teachers. This whole program creates a challenging atmosphere necessary for
students to achieve.
Another issue is the
use of computers with internet connections. Many schools do not have computers
not to talk of internet connections and some others have but either
commercialize or prohibit students from using them. Only few schools allow
students access to the internet. It is a necessity which students and even
their teachers need to improve upon their textbook-acquired knowledge. Things
are changing rapidly around us and only the information from the internet can
keep us abreast of the changes taking place. For instance, we were taught a couple
of years ago that we had nine planets, but the planets are currently not nine
anymore. A lot of text books still reflect nine planets, so, many students
still think the planets are nine. Exposure to the internet makes up for the
lapses of our outmoded textbooks. Although, it cannot be denied that the
internet can pollute the minds of students when used for the wrong reason, but
should we throw the baby with the bath water? Measures can be put in place to
ensure that students utilize the internet with discretion.
One other area of concern is the training of teachers. Our
method of training is yet to fully incorporate the study of psychoanalysis and mild
mental challenges. Some children have certain mental or genetic challenges that
impede their learning process, for example dyslexia, autism etc. Our education
system should acknowledge these challenges and accommodate them by training
teachers to recognize them while doing their best to help these students. In the
same vein, our system can improve in its promptness in identifying students
with outstanding potentials in oratory, art works, writing, mathematics,
invention etc, by providing platforms where their gifts can be effectively
harnessed and developed. Need I say more?
I have taken to heart a fundamental fact in biology that, one major
characteristic of all living things is growth, and I do hope that we experience
the kind of growth we need, else we all will be plagued by the stench of our
dead academic system.
It is worthy of note that the nation’s educational system is
bereft of individuals who have made up their minds to take up the noble
vocation of empowering young minds. It used to be so in the palmy days of our
fathers, now we are left with people who are tired of waiting for office jobs
or people who just want to breeze in and breeze out of the system until they
get pastures that are financially greener. This is not to imply that we do not
have people who genuinely want to teach but they are just a handful. When our
schools become laced with selfless minds with a mission to empower young people
to be leaders, patriots and champions in their diverse fields of interest, our
academic system will, to a large extent, get rid of truancy and examination
malpractice which have eaten deep into the fabric of our school systems.
In conclusion, there is hope for a tree that is cut because
at the scent of rain it will grow again. Our education system can experience the
change it cries for, but we must first believe in the possibility of change;
shake off the stigma of mediocrity and begin rebuilding our society. If our
education system can be revived again, there is hope that Nigeria can be reborn.
After all, empowering a child is empowering a nation.
