By Msonter Anzaa
“Let us be clear – we are failing too many of our children. We’re sending them out into a 21st century economy by sending them through the doors of 20th century schools. “In many states, students are taught the anatomy of a flower as many as six times over the course of their education. Yet, they are never taught what they need to become a productive citizen in a global economy.” Obama (2005).
“Let us be clear – we are failing too many of our children. We’re sending them out into a 21st century economy by sending them through the doors of 20th century schools. “In many states, students are taught the anatomy of a flower as many as six times over the course of their education. Yet, they are never taught what they need to become a productive citizen in a global economy.” Obama (2005).
These are not the best of times for the Nigerian educational system. Suffering from lack of adequate funding, proliferation of substandard schools and inadequate manpower, the system is a shadow of its original self. Concerns have been raised at different times on various forums regarding its deplorable state. The number of graduates leaving the schools is increasing, while the number of those prepared for the work environment is dwindling. This essay looks at some of the notorious issues in the sector, presents evidence of its failure and suggests practical remedies.
To begin with, the educational system in Nigeria suffers lack of funding. For instance, it is because there are no sufficient funds that lecture halls are overcrowded, laboratories are under-equipped, research has been neglected and education workers are often on strike. Given this scenario, educational institutions in Nigeria have been reduced to mere certificate printing centers. Their students do not receive the training that they need in the work place. Where curricula exist for such training, lack of funding often limits their implementation. In the sciences especially, certain practical exercises are not held and certain researches are not conducted due to unavailability of equipment.
A more fundamental problem responsible for the inability of the system to prepare students for the work environment is the improper implementation of the National Policy on Education, NPE. That document spells out how students shall advance from the primary schools up to tertiary institutions. In the secondary schools for instance, it requires JSS 3 students to sit for an exam that determines whether they should proceed to higher education or to technical schools. But this provision is abused. Instead, the JSCE has become a “junior WAEC”! Because of this, students who cannot do well in the conventional system force their way into it, crowding up the lecture halls and increasing the pressure on the facilities. And this is because we are becoming a certificate nation. Certificates, rather than skill, are what determine how we rate ourselves, and so these students too want to have degrees and NYSC certificates. However, when they do that, they deprive this nation of the technical development she would have if they had availed themselves of technical education.
It is self-evident that the current educational system not only does not – but actually cannot – prepare students for the work environment. One glaring proof is the appalling lack of skill demonstrated by products of the system. Lamenting this scenario, Chiedu (2013) writes that:
“A lot of computer science graduates of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, for instance, fail recruitment tests for their inability to switch on a PC. Some of them are obviously getting to touch such machines for the first time. Engineering graduates, who ought to have conducted researches in the course of their studies, culminating in inventions, get to touch most of the elementary engineering tools for the first time, after their graduation.”
Another proof is the rate of unemployment among graduates. Not too long ago, the then Central Bank Governor, Charles Soludo revealed that the problem is not just that Nigerian graduates are unemployed, but actually that they are unemployable! Look at the sky-rocketing number of skill acquisition centers all over the nation. First we, have the National Directorate of Employment, an initiative of the federal government herself, formed to train youths with skills needed in the work place. Again, this year, the federal government has launched the Graduate Internship Scheme aimed at affiliating graduates with their prospective work places for a period so that they can acquire the required skills. This is an open confession by the government itself that the education that these people have received has failed to equip them with these skills hence the need for external intervention.
How then can this situation be salvaged? First, government must rededicate itself to funding the system. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, recommends that member states commit at least 26% of the annual budgets to education. Nigeria does not. “She spends less than 7% of her budget on education. Botswana spends 19.0 percent; Swaziland, 24.6; Lesotho, 17.0; South Africa, 25.8; Cote d’Ivoire, 30.0; Uganda, 27.0; Tunisia, 17.0; and Morocco, 17.7 percent” (Okecha, 2008). Secondly, government must ensure a full implementation of the NPE. The JSCE must be taken seriously as what determines whether students can pursue academics or go into the technical schools. Thirdly, the curriculum should be restructured to meet national needs. There is no point using 19th century methods or equipments in preparing students for the 21st century work environment. I agree with Okoye (2012) that:
Most of the first world countries . . . owe their breakthrough and successes in the field of science and technology to robust and functional educational systems. Their thriving economies are driven by . . . technological innovations evolved by their citizens. But technological breakthroughs and inventions are achieved by students where the educational systems are virile and functional.
Finally, Nigeria’s educational system as it is today, cannot prepare students for the work environment. This however, does not mean it is impossible to revive it. In doing this, the challenges of funding and policy implementation must not only be tackled aggressively; they must be tackled now.
References
Obama, B. H. (2005). “Teaching Our Kids in the Twenty-first Century.” A speech delivered in
Washington DC at an event sponsored by the Center for American Progress on October 25, 2005.
Chiedu, A. (2013). “Restoring Quality to Nigerian Education System.”
http://www.punchng.com/opinion/restoring-quality-to-nigerias-education-system/ Retrieved on April 8, 2013.
Okecha, S. (2008). “Education.” Newswatch, October 6, 2008.
Okoye, C.U. (2012). “Nigeria’s Educational Problems.”
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