NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL ARTHRITIS:WHY STUDENTS FAIL WAEC/NECO EXAMS REPEATEDLY DESPITE MALPRACTICES (1)

INTRO

This memo which was addressed and delivered by our organization EDUPEDIA ASSOCIATES to the following bodies a few years ago is now being made public for the sake of Nigerian children.Kindly give the memo some attention, pass along or help publish in a national daily for the sake of our youth

Thank you

A. Both Houses of the National Assembly.

B.THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND ALL RELATED AGENCIES UNDER IT SUCH AS

1. Education trust Fund (ETF)

2. Joint Admissions And Matriculation Board (JAMB)

3. National Board for Educational Measurement (NBEM)

4. National Board for Technical Education (NBTE)

5. National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB)

6. National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE)

7. National Commission for Mass Literacy (NCME)

8. National Commission for Nomadic Education

9. National Examination Council (NECO)

10. National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NEIPA)

11. National Institute for Nigeria Languages (NINL)

12. National Library of Nigeria (NLN)

13. National Mathematical Centre (NMC)

14. Nigerian French Language Village (NFLV)

15. Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN)

16. Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC)

17. West African Examination Council (WAEC)

18. National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)

19. National Primary Education Commission (NPEC)

20. National Teachers’ Institute (NTI)

21. National Universities Commission (NUC)

22. Nigeria Arabic Language Village (NALV)

23. Nigeria Education Bank (NEB)

24. Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC)

C. MINISTRIES OF EDUCATION FOR THE 36 STATES AND THE FCT

PREAMBLE

The Nigeria government has vision “par excellence” about education as an instrument for effecting national development. So says the introduction of the current National Policy on Education.
Nigeria is also blessed with many specialists who definitely know what education is about. Whether at federal or state levels it must have the largest congregation of trained specialists on the continent of Africa.
Nigerian societies & families hold definite views about education as an engine of knowledge. It is also acknowledged for upward mobility of families in the society.
Theoretically state government staffs in charge of education have where it takes to control schools and students. These are done through Inspectorate Departments, Policy and Control Departments, Planning and Research Departments etc. they coordinate programs through local education sub-setups too. They conduct tests and evaluations at the UBE levels and also monitor and ensure minimum standards for private schools.

ACADEMIC ARTHRITIS: STATING THE OBVIOUS

Today education is no longer what it used to be. Everywhere the quality of the average student is unacceptable to most citizens. It seems the Nigerian learning process has developed an unusual curve which keeps mesmerizing students and other stakeholders in the sub-sector. Unfortunately government keeps looking elsewhere for solutions that are available within its own set up. It has failed to realize that students of today can no longer be educated with methods of yesterday It may therefore take a while before government makes a determined effort to clean up these inappropriate methods of teaching that are being used throughout the federation.
Many parents also assume that schools and teachers would be the way they were in their “wonderful days of yore”. They also assume that aspirations, goal and motivations of their children should be contingent with their natural wishes for them. Unfortunately, many parents may one day realize that they were only dreaming and that the prevalent educational arthritis has hit them below the belt. How? Despite loads of money being paid by many of them the real truth is that many schools are using lotions, creams and make-up to cover what basically is bad education. Many parents actually look for miraculous financial breakthroughs to support these children instead of miraculous removals of symptoms of their academic arthritis.
Many students think of school life and school management as academic ‘cork-stoppers” having nothing to offer than old polish or scary ingredients for their academic menu. So what do they do? They hardly listen in class, take appropriate notes or learn how to speak correctly in public. They do not study or write properly for examination purposes either. The acceptable option is not to study smartly but to use cheating tools for academic successes.
Today, educational administrators whether at federal, state or school levels definitely have a lot on their professional plates to contend with. While some have put up their hands in surrender or in supplication to God for a miracle others have continued to strive at doing their best at their allocated jobs or professional fields.
Those of us who have been involved in private school education whether at secondary, adult, vocational or tertiary levels have not been left out of the mist either. We have interacted with student products of private and public schools. We observed a considerable level of disinterestedness by these students in what they call “stressful” education. We have also observed many state schools (whose products in the past matched those of private schools) decline over the years.
All these problems are well known by government officials, education specialists and owners of private schools. But then, how do they help their students to overcome these difficulties? Is the setting up of guidance counseling units or the presence of guidance –counselors enough? Do PTA meetings help to solve these problems or do they aggravate some of them? How many of the needs beyond classroom “lessons” do many so-called school management deeply understand? How many of them are well-equipped to provide solutions? How many schools are involved in only panel-beating their students because of the fees paid by their parents? How many of them give their students life- long skills which are applicable and useful many years they might have left school? How many schools really provide solutions to the educational needs of their students?
Many times ones wished that the old great teachers were still around. Though there are still a few dedicated teachers the bulk of the “professionals” within our school system do not see teaching the way it used to be. Perhaps they should not be blamed. The societal “eye” about teaching or teachers is not very encouraging up till today. In fact in some cases they are very derogatory. Even those trained to teach have “attitudes” generally about the job leaving the bulk of the real job to the few they call “efficos” i.e. those who love and are diligent at work.

CAUSES OF OUR EDUCATIONAL ARTHRITIS

Why has the Nigerian educational progress developed into arthritis for parents, students and the nation in most schools?
Why do many Nigerian students disrespect educational systems and institutions? Why do the average Nigerian students treat schooling with disdain or mockery? Could this fault be from their homes, tutors, peer groups, schools or the society at large? Why do students spend less time in school? Why do they refuse to keep appropriate notes? Why do they refuse to listen to their teachers or why do they engage in school-to-school wars? Why are today’s students engaged in gangsterism, cult activities, armed robbery etc? Why do they resort to cheating modes most of the time for exam purposes?
Are the problems traceable to the 6-3-3-4 system? Experts have told us that though the system was beautifully mapped out the execution failed us. Many reasons have been advanced to support this. The focus of this write-up, however is to point out the foundation of some of the weaknesses found in students’ capacities, competencies and attitudes today. If the fault is not with the tutors or the educational system, what are the other reasons for the current situation?
To understand the problem more, let us pay attention to the average Nigerian student in a public school. This is because there is a general belief that public school students have dyed-in-the-wool negative attitudes towards learning.(see more details here about this)

So what about students in private schools? Many private schools that are supposed to be good, have proprietors or proprietresses who are business men and women in the educational field. They have obtained loans, built mansions to dazzle parents, display laboratories that are not adequately utilized or computer rooms for showing that “Facilities are available”. Perhaps parents should ask their children in these schools how many novels they have summarized in their own words and got marked by teachers. Or how much of Nigeria, Africa and the World they know.
Many private schools fail to recognize that a bus does not make a school. Neither do uniforms nor mighty mansions. A school is the determination of those appointed to administer the school to transform Life 101 lessons to their students.
The advent of information technology (IT) has not improved what should be called the finer aspects of grooming either. Computers have become more of a distraction than a contribution to education. The web is the biggest and the best library for students yet its e-mails do not encourage the writing of English the way expected by WAEC or NECO. The advent of GSM has also encouraged non-adherence to punctuation rules. Nigeria has become part of the “global village”. This is not only through the internet but also through Nigerian and foreign television channels. So the Nigerian of today is victim of many sources of distraction which are internal and external to his place of abode or schooling.
The social and political conditions are not helping matters either. Many Nigerian graduates are not adequately employed to encourage those who are coming behind them. The conditions of the universities and the cult system syndrome have also had some effect on the way an average secondary school student sees his school and system of education.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

TO BE CONTINUED FROM THE NEXT POST

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