Unresolved Issues In Fallen Standard Of Education

There is no gainsaying the fact that in Nigeria today, the standard of education has fallen. Between 1914 and 1967, the products of primary schools secondary schools, training colleges, vocational schools and tertiary institutions were the pride of this nation.

In those days, a pupil in standard three or four was able to write good letters and essays topics. A child who successfully completed his primary school education spoke very good English and his writing was admirable. The child was well educated in every sense of the word. In fact, many teachers in primary schools during this period were people who had only standard six certificates.

In spite of this, they taught as born teachers. Those of them who took up appointments in the civil services also prove themselves.

Secondarily, schools and training colleges at that time were quite few and exclusively for students with very high intellectual abilities. Products of these colleges were good in all branches of learning and they served Nigeria meritoriously in all field of human endeavour.

With the government take over of schools from voluntary agencies in 1970, indiscipline has been the order of the day. It is a contention that the situation would have been different if the voluntary agencies who were mainly missionaries and highly disciplined – were allowed to continue running the schools.

Soon after the Nigerian Civil War, there was an explosion in the training of teachers. Some of them combined their training with other activities that yielded them some monetary gains.

Because of this fact, they received training for a period of not more than four months before writing the Teachers’ Grade Two Certificate Examination. With this group of half-baked teachers handling our children, a fall in the standard of education became unavoidable.

In the good old days, teachers in primary and secondary schools organised evening lectures regularly and free of charge for the students. Today, teachers have no time for evening lectures and when they do, it will be for a fee. Absence of evening lectures and undue emphasis on handouts contributes tremendously towards the present falling standard in education.

There are syndicates that forge certificate for the various examinations, today. Lazy students buy these certificates at exorbitant prices. These forged certificates help them to enter institutions of higher learning. Over time, however, uUniversities discover these fake certificates and expel those involved in the fraudulent act, sometimes during their degree examination. The proliferation of fake certificates has done incalculable harm to the standard of education in this country.

In the olden days, students worked independently in the examination halls but today, many of them copy from their mates. Others carry their notebooks, textbooks and copy materials in the examination hall. If students refused to work hard but insist on passing their examination only by indulging in examination malpractices, the standard of education must fall.

Teachers are perhaps the most neglected and most less paid set of workers in Nigeria, today. Consequently, they often go on strike leaving their students like sheep without shepherds.

Teachers’ strikes are so frequent that there is little time to teach the students. If during one particular academic session, the students are taught for only about three or four months, why should the standard of education not fall?

In the olden days, educational policy in Nigeria was clear-cut and definite. Today, the authorities engage in endless exercises in trial and error. The newly introduced continuous assessment compels the teachers to spend most of their time filling forms so that there is no time left for teaching. In the long run, every child passes without learning. The result of this gamble is falling standard of education.

In many of our tertiary institution, morality has no place at all. Some female students refuse to work hard like their male counterparts. They use their seductive dresses, voice as well as subtle maneuvers to lure the weak-minded lecturers who award them unjustifiable high marks in exchange for sex. As such, female students who are prepared to descend to this shameful level in order to attract underserved marks, have no need to work hard.

Government all over the world educate their citizens. Any government which is leaking in this respect is not worth its salt. In so far as voluntary agencies have done a lot to promote the cause of education in Nigeria, the government’s decision to take over running of schools can at best be preposterously alleged to have been responsible for the fallen standard of education in Nigeria.

Therefore, it’s obvious for our government to take a stand in reviving the standard of education in Nigeria.

Gift residest in Port Harcourt.

Graham Gift