[ad_1]
By Chiedu Uche Okoye
The MACMILLAN School Dictionary defines education as “the activity of educating people in schools, colleges and universities, and all policies and provisions thereon”. Over the ages, the African people have engaged in the business and activity of acquiring an education, as evidenced by the existence of the University of Timbuktu long before Africa and its (her) people (s) are subject to imperial domination and domination.
The acquisition of education by the people or peoples of Africa is the light that has penetrated and dissipated the veil of darkness that once enveloped Africa. The whites brought us western education and built schools where knowledge and good morals were instilled in people.
In Nigeria, these educated people have helped put an end to some heinous, vile and inhuman cultural practices such as the murder of twins. And many people who have attended white-built schools have found employment in the public service and have contributed their share to the development of Nigeria.
In the 1960s and 1970s, post-primary schools and universities in Nigeria provided quality education to students. And good morals were instilled in them. It is therefore no wonder that Nigerian schools became a sort of educational mecca for non-Nigerian students, who were very thirsty for a quality university education.
At that time, our universities were veritable citadels of knowledge and bastions of scientific and humanist knowledge. The products of our schools have been maintained in their chosen areas of specialization at the global level.
However, unfortunately, with the tempus fugit, the excellence associated with Nigerian schools has eroded. The decrease in the level of education in Nigeria was partly caused by the military intervention in our politics. The enactment by our military leaders of draconian laws to silence voices of dissent within the regime has forced our leading intellectuals out of Nigeria.
We remember that Patrick Wilmot, professor at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, was deported to his country of origin for lousy reasons. And the devaluation of our naira currency due to the mismanagement of our economy has prompted many Nigerian professionals to seek greener pastures outside the coast of Nigeria.
Again, the institutionalization of corruption in Nigeria by the Ibrahim Babangida regime has eroded family values in Nigeria. Due to the entrenchment of corruption in the country, many people have stopped emphasizing family values. The Machiavellian principle of “the end justifies the means” has become the guiding principle and the guiding principles of millions of Nigerians.
So in a short time, parents, who wanted their children to study professional courses such as accounting, medicine, law and others, would hire surrogate candidates to take exams such as NECO, SSCE and NABTEB for their children. The “miracle centers”, which dot every nook and cranny of the country, are used to perpetrate large-scale exam bribes for the benefit of large numbers of exam candidates.
And student admissions to law, medical and other schools are determined by nepotism and push factors. Merit is destroyed and sacrificed on the altar of nepotism, cronyism and corruption. Unsurprisingly, many doctors, accountants, lawyers and professors in Nigeria demonstrate and display quackery in the line of duty.
Contrary to what was achieved in the 1960s and 1970s, when the certificates of high school leavers reflected their true academic abilities, some of today’s high school leavers are ignorant people who know next to nothing about the subjects they took. earned accolades in exams like NECO, SSCE, NABTEB, and others.
Even among students, the ruling weltanschauung does not like school activities and the relentless pursuit of wealth. So, in this context of pervasive corruption in our school system, can we discover any real university champions who deserve a scholarship for their university studies?
As the rot in our school system deepens and wears off, our political leaders at different levels stand idly by and do nothing. Not only are they insensitive to the fate and well-being of teachers, but they also fail to equip schools with modern scientific and laboratory equipment and computers. Add that to the ASUU’s intractable strikes over government disputes, and you get a graphic and true picture of the deep crisis our schools have fallen into.
The incessant protest actions of university professors are disrupting the academic calendars of our universities and lengthening the stay of students on campus. Because an idle mind is a devil’s workshop, idle students engage in heinous crimes like armed robbery and kidnappings. And the students sell their bodies for money. If schools were in session, students would spend their time studying their books instead of committing various heinous crimes.
But is the education that can be obtained in Nigerian schools qualitative? The answer is a categorical NO! In our universities, some teachers rarely engage in research to produce lecture notes for their students. Instead, they would dictate 30-year-old class notes to them. And most high school teachers, disheartened and disillusioned, moonlight to earn money to raise their meager salaries.
However, there is a silver lining in the dark clouds as to the problems affecting our education system, with the recent ratification of government policies aimed at improving the living conditions of teachers in our post-primary schools and at reorganizing our school system. When these measures are implemented, they will reduce the financial difficulties faced by teachers and boost their morale.
The federal government should, however, resolve its recurring confrontation with ASUU and formulate measures that would reorganize our universities to become world-class universities. If our universities become world class schools, the educational tourism that the children of wealthy politicians get into will stop as they start enrolling in college programs at our universities.
Restoring the past and the lost glories of our universities should be the top priority of our political leaders, if they are to transform Nigeria into an economically and technologically developed country.
In today’s world, education is the foundation of the development of countries. As universities are citadels of learning and bastions of scientific and humanistic knowledge, they should be well funded and teacher morale boosted so that university professors can push the frontiers of knowledge and put Nigeria on the irreversible path. economy and technological development.
Okoye, a poet, wrote from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra state
Vanguard News Nigeria
Related
[ad_2]
Source link
