It is no longer news that the failure rate in West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations; The two main exams that students must take to successfully complete high school and to qualify for admission to higher institutions of learning have grown tremendously over the years. The failure rate when Nigeria turned 50 this year is so alarming that more than 70% of the students who took the aforementioned exams failed Maths and English; the two main subjects that a student must pass to be admitted to most courses in higher institutions. A question must be asked; Should our education sector improve or decline as a nation?
These recent events have confirmed the callousness of those in charge of our education sector in recent years to the rotten nature of the sector. Each of the decision makers in the sector brings their own policies as soon as they take power, and this has led to the instability of our education as new programs and styles are employed every time there is a new decision maker in the sector. Interestingly, the current Minister of Education, following the recent failure of students in the Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSCE), suggests that the number of subjects offered in these examinations could be reduced from nine (9) to five ( 5) as she believed that the sheer nature of most of these subjects might have been responsible for the students’ failure. Unfortunately, we may wake up tomorrow and find that her opinion has become law. I totally disagree with her opinion and I think many well-intentioned Nigerians would do the same. At fifty, I think Nigeria would have done well, at least in this important sector, but obviously we haven’t.
We all believe that young people are the leaders of tomorrow. Unfortunately, we are doing little to ensure that the future is bright. Education is more than just teaching, reading and passing exams. Maybe that’s where we went wrong. If Nigeria is to achieve anything great, more attention needs to be paid to the education sector. We may not need professors to build this sector, since we all know how corrupt the world has become, and anyone could have become a professor anyway. However, I want you to correct me. We need people who are passionate about the future of Nigeria, people who are willing to leave their comfort for the good of the nation, visionary people. We need leaders, not managers. Leaders work by vision, managers work by sight.
Our educational system is obviously headed for doom and the future of our nation is in jeopardy if people who understand education as teaching and training mind and character, and not just passing exams, direct. Saving our education is the only way to save the future of Nigeria. Future leaders need to know what leadership is all about, their character needs to be developed. This can be done through education. We must save our education from the savages who make the decisions.
I don’t know if I’m the only one who has realized that not only are decision makers killing our education, but corporate bodies aren’t helping either. In times past, schools used to be interesting for bright students that other students strive to be better than them at other things to strike a balance. Thus great men were born in the past in various fields. There used to be various contests and competitions where a healthy rivalry developed between the students, and that brought out the best in many.
There is a disease in Nigeria now that would see corporations and individuals only doing things that others are already doing. Maybe it existed then and that’s probably why there were a lot of companies sponsoring a lot of competitions in schools. The spotlight shifted to entertainment a few years ago and it has been tough on our education sector ever since, with various contests and talent search shows popping up daily with big corporations as sponsors. Almost all the companies that do well and sponsor things in their plan of giving back to society have left the educational sector. Youngsters earn millions of Naira in various talent search shows across the country and their counterparts struggle to keep up with the challenge of focusing on education despite distractions from the sides. No one seems to be looking forward to what the future will bring if they do well in their education when there is an opportunity to make millions if they can showcase their talent. The era of educational quizzes and shows seems to be fading. Now we hear headlines like “21-year-old boy wins N2.5 million on talent search show”. MTN’s “Who wants to be a millionaire?” It seems to be the most popular and rewarding educational program left, but how many young people in the 16-25 age range have gained anything substantial from the program?
The young seem to be losing their minds. There are general knowledge books, motivational books, and the like. How many have you bought in the last three years when you were young? There are organizations with educational programs like talk shows, game shows, etc. Have you ever had the opportunity to get good sponsors? Some young people showed me the prospectus of their organization and I was impressed to learn that there are still young people who have a lot on top. Unfortunately, I have not been able to connect them with a sponsor since then.
I’m not saying talent scouting is bad, and I’m not saying it should stop. I’m just a crusader for change who thinks we could use more sponsors in the education sector to support organized essay contests, topic contests, poetry contests, etc. Let’s give the education of the young our best chance and watch what happens to our great nation.
As the elders say; “What an old man sees sitting down, a child cannot see even if he climbs a tree.” Let’s listen to the old folks who have always been here and follow their good advice. They may have seen what we may never see.
Nigeria has fifty. Let’s join hands and work hard to make this country a better place for those who come.