Nigeria Educational System: on the Precipice

Saying that the educational system in Nigeria is on the precipice, does not mean that it is yet to be down. In fact, this is a system that has crumbled down with the rubbles and needs great for a revival. My reason for saying it is on the precipice is that we still have schools, teachers, students and contents though they are not functioning systematically. 

However, the state of education in Nigeria is in such a state that using the word “eyesore”, will be an application euphemism; an understatement. This of course, is a result of the devaluation of education as a field and the teachers by the government coupled the loss of the pride in teaching by teachers and above all, what I call the deliberate educational genocide by our failed system.  Just like the novel corona virus, the government is slowly eliminating pedagogism, exposing the nation and the entirety of its future to utter destruction. Oblivious the fact that once the education of a nation is destroyed, it brings everything else down with it. Pedagogy has been brought so low in Nigeria that one will wonder if it was ever a profession meant to be.

 The disintegration of prowess in our educational system and the loss of value in its certificate has numerous factors and persons stringed to it. To begin with, our Colleges of Education have the bottom mark in Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) grading of institutions; educational courses are found the cheapest in our institutions; the lowest pass-mark belongs to the faculty of education. In what way does this structure favour upcoming generation? This simply means, those who are unable to meet their required Jamb or Post-UTME scores are qualified and more befitting to be guardians of the new generation?

IN our universities, the faculty of education has become a dumping site for other courses, telling us that, the incompetent ones are the ones worthy of being trained as teachers. Why then, should anyone complain about the poor performances of some teachers? The input determines the output we are only reaping what we had sown.  How can we plant students with low grades in the faculty of education, matriculating an exodus of dotards in our colleges but expected to produce vibrant pedagogues? Creating an outrageous number of potential teachers, majority of whom never wanted to be.

On the part of parents, their attitudes and words towards and comments about teachers and teaching, is enough to make this noble profession despicable. Before any parent complains about the poor performance of teachers, they should sacrifice at least one of their brilliant wards to the field of education. You are willing to have a good and committed teacher for your wards but unwilling to create one from your family? These degrading thoughts about teachers is propagated so much that students see it as a form of a bad omen. 

Furthermore, It is not only ridiculous but also absurd that those who have been trained by colleges of education, certified as teachers, are prevented from participating in the National Youth service Corps (NYSC) program. This is not however the problem, the main concern is that, those who have not been trained in the least about the field of education, neither do they understand what it means to be a teacher nor how to teach, are distributed in our various schools, instead of industries of their respective field of study; another product of failed government .

One great misconception about the field of a pedagogue is that, teaching simply indicates coming before a group of students and telling them something they don’t know, i.e., teaching is seeing as the transfer of knowledge from a teacher to a learner. This is however far from the reasoning, philosophy, ethics, purpose and anything that has to do with teaching.  Teaching is beyond transfer of knowledge from a teacher to learner, rather it involves integrating and reintegrating of young minds, remolding of conducts and nurturing of values in learners with respect to their religious, cultural, and linguistic background – individually.

The caliber of teachers we have in most of our educational constituent today, are not equipped with the appropriate knowledge and therefore, should not be left the future generation. The future is at stake to keep in the hands of these untrained teachers who have no knowledge about what teaching as a profession entails.

It is therefore important for the government in collaboration with other educational agencies –governmental and none governmental alike – to rebrand the educational system in Nigeria. They should make educational courses and colleges highly competitive so as to have the best of the best nurturing the future leaders. In case many do not know, the salaries of teachers will naturally become favorable as a chain reaction from its competitiveness. Though there is so much to do, in order to revive the system. Nonetheless, this is a way forward and a reason to start.