A university lecturer, Prof. Jack Aigbodioh, has attributed the
mass failure of candidates in West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and other
external examinations to poor funding of schools.

The professor of Philosophy at the Ambrose Alli University
(AAU), Ekpoma in Edo State made his views known in an interview with our
correspondent in Ekpoma.

He also blamed the lack of facilities, in-conducive learning
environment and unqualified teachers in public schools in the country as
largely responsible for the poor results by the candidates in public
examinations.

According to Aigbodioh, who is also the Director of General
Studies of the university, government funding of secondary education is not
commensurate with the population of children in school.

“I am personally not surprised that the students continue to
suffer the way they are going. We are not taking education seriously in this
country.

“Explosion of child population in this country is not
matched with adequate financial and facility support.

“If we are to get things right, government must first of all
carry out proper population census of children in school and allocate
appropriate resources accordingly.

“The next in line is to ensure teachers recruited to teach
in primary and in the secondary schools, especially public schools are
qualified to do so.

“As government must work to improve learning and teaching
facilities in these schools, they must also ensure proper remuneration of the
teachers.

“I stress on remuneration because when poorly paid, these
teachers, to survive, engage themselves in something else to augment what they
are been paid.

“By so doing, when this happens, possibility of giving their
best is out of the question,” he said.

Aigbodioh also said that “if corruption persists with the
way it is going and we continue to spend money on irrelevant things, I do not
see hope for the Nigeria child.”