The massive investment of the Rivers State Government in modern infrastructure as a first step towards building the capacity of the average Rivers indigene cannot be over-emphasised. It really shows that someone somewhere is interested in the future of the State.

It is quite disheartening to hear about mass failure of students in WAEC, NECO and even in aptitude tests that most companies subject their candidates to, in order to offer employment. This can be attributed to many reasons. Location, standard of living, financial situation of parents, qualification of teachers, instructional, motivational and conducive atmosphere of the school environment are some of the factors that determine how well  a child would do in school.

The foundation a child has from nursery/primary, school goes a long way in determining his or her future.

Now that the government is  providing  a very good foundation for school children through beautiful edifices, state-of-the-art equipment, new school uniforms, books et al, it is equally important that the re-training of teachers should start immediately. This can be done in different ways. One, by re-training  teachers who in turn will become teacher trainers. Their job is to go round the different local government areas of the State training their peers. This is cost-effective as not too many people will be trained by the consultants.

Alternatively, a massive re-training scheme can be undertaken by those in charge (board, ministry or consultants in education) to administer training for all teachers.

Specialty –based training is very important as well. Traditionally, primary school teachers are perceived as persons with lower education and less training. This of course is true. But for Rivers State to excel, the situation has to change. If children are taught by poorly trained or poorly equipped teachers at the primary level, they will end up with deficient knowledge at tertiary levels.

Pygmalion in the classroom theory suggests that teachers favour those students who do well while relegating the others to the background. This makes perfect sense in a teacher who has not been trained properly in teaching methods. ‘Slow students, slow down the class’. The tendency therefore, is to move on without such students. This of course may not be the fault of the children, but rather the fault of their unqualified teachers.

So, it is very important that the standard of training of teachers has to improve. Otherwise, all the money spent on the new schools will go down the drain. There is no reason why primary school teachers should not be as qualified as their counterparts in the other levels of education. The world is now technology based. A teacher who is not computer literate has no business in teaching in this modern time.

The news about the massive failure in external examinations in the country is regrettable. I want to believe that the level of corruption that has eaten deep into the fabric of our society is beginning to reflect itself in our children. Today, we have ridiculous situations where parents bribe  supervisors to help out their children during examinations. Many parents buy question papers for their children all in a bid to make their children pass examinations. These horrible stories merely showcase what the society has become.

The fact that WAEC and NECO results are nothing to write home about means that we have to go back to the drawing board to fix whatever is wrong. The new state of the art schools built by the State government have to have state-of-the-art teachers, otherwise, the whole effort will become meaningless.

The government should, as a priority, start retraining teachers. The school curriculum has to be re-visited. All the stakeholders must be involved in the reform of education in the State. Teaching methods have to be followed meticulously. The provision of nice chairs and nice race tracks will not translate into good results for students in external examination without proper training of the students. As much as these facilities are good and welcome for the total education of the child, it is equally important for the teachers to be able to use the facilities that have been graciously provided to produce excellent results.

Teachers, administrators of education policies and parents should work together to bring about the much desired change for the State. I am not sure Parents, Teachers Association (PTA) still exists in Rivers State. If it does not, it should be revived. Teachers, parents and students conferences should be held periodically. This will provide an avenue for all concerned to voice their concerns.

In other words, to get the  State government’s thrust in education to function optimally, all hands must be on deck. The government has provided the infrastructure and equipment, the school board or whoever is in charge of training has to immediately embark on massive re-training of teachers, while parents and community leaders make their own contributions towards the education reform in the State.

Dr (Mrs.) Wikina is a consultant sociologist.

Ada Wikina