Nigeria's Educational System Needs Restructuring. By: A. A. Adegboyega
Nigeria's Educational System Needs Restructuring
The rate at which Nigerian educational system deteriorates is alarming. Nigerians are worried over the level of decay witnessed in her academic institutions.
Today, Adebayo Adegboyega Olanrewaju writes on the need to restructure Nigerian's educational system.
One of the greatest challenges facing the Nigerian state is it's decadent educational system. Freedom fighter and democrat, Nelson Mandela famously said, *Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.*
The Nigerian state has so willfully left its entire educational system in ruins across all levels.
The more infuriating part of the blame is on our professors and the education dons in the educational sector who have done next to nothing as regards revising the syllabuses of the Nigerian educational system to prepare humans who can confront the realities of the 21st century.
Allow me start from our childhood, as far as my experience can stretch backwards, little improvements were made only in the aspect of technology. Asides from that, there has been no notable improvement to write home about.
I can vividly remember myself using slates in the early 90s, technology moved us forward, we started using pencils, pens, exercise books and blackboards, then came whiteboards; the digital age is now fully upon us; laptops, iPhones and artificial intelligence are the order of the day, sadly Nigeria is doing nothing to move itself forward. No public primary or secondary school in Nigeria uses internet-based learning tools. It would appear the educational sector is stagnant.
To my best knowledge and for the purpose of this small discuss, I will divide education into four basic parts
1) Basic Education
2) Theoretical education
3) Scholastic education
4) Financial education
*1) Basic Education*
*Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.* (Malcolm X)
Basic Education is the A, B, C to Z, it has to do with the 2+2=4 law we are taught at the basic level, anyone with this level of education is equipped to go into businesses and survive in the world, but often this survival comes with limits. Mind you, I'm not saying one can't survive without education, the best entrepreneur in Ogun state in 2005 to 2007 is not literate and can hardly write his own name.
*2) Theoretical Education*
According to Wikipedia "Theoretical Education means learning things without any practical knowledge." This is what we grow to learn in our secondary schools. Learning effective communication skills for use in our day to day activities and in achieving our more complex objectives.
It is at this stage that students make life-altering decisions; choosing diverse professions like Medicine, Insurance, Accounting and many others. Students are rarely, if ever thought the value of entrepreneurship or any other thing but the age old syllabus.
*3) Scholastic Education*
This is where most people miss it completely. Personally, I sought admission into 3 University for 5 years after graduating secondary school. None of them offered me admission. I wanted to study Industrial Relations and Personnel Management or Economics but I ended up choosing Business administration and management at Federal polytechnic, Ilaro, *"when what you want isn't coming forth, grab what you have"* Liberator Olanrewaju (2013).
At this point in my life there was no one to orientate me about who i wanted to become or about life and it's complexities.
I kept choosing universities without any idea of what I I really wanted in a never ending cycle.
At the higher institution, you have to learn about scholars, internalizing what one man wrote 100 years ago line by line, then sit for examination just to receive average scores because some lectures aren't good at reading and comprehending and importantly because they are underemployed.
Most lecturers only accept the teaching job to earn a living, they aren't true teachers, often they are trapped within their office and that's why most of them don't improve themselves and in the end can't adequately train students.
*4) Financial Education*
*Financial literacy is the possession of the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources.*
This is where I am actually headed, financial education is what Nigeria lacks and what the government needs to provide for the teeming student population. To reduce the threats to the economy, reduce poverty rate, reduce unemployability and reduce the unemployment ratio.
NB:-
a) *Reduction in the poverty rate will help to reduce ritualists*
b) *Increase in the number of of job providers will mark a reduction in unemployment figures while tax income for the government will increase as the number of firms increases*
c) *Reduction in unemployment will also reduce the rate of Cyber crimes and robbery*
The educational sector has belatedly raised the idea of teaching financial literacy at the tertiary level under a novel body known as The Entrepreneur Development centers, sadly it is coming onboard when majority are already exposed to making money from cyber crime or other nefarious avenues, for someone exposed to the hastily gotten avenue that is advance fraud, it is difficult to encourage them to learn a trade or work at an underpaying job that at best pays #20,000 every month.
The economy is in disarray. Truth be told the Entrepreneur Development center is doing its best, however, the ills of cyber crime, rituals and other vices that start from the secondary school are weakening its efforts.
Secondary level students should start having business and handwork knowledge and from the most basic of grassroots - primary schools, once this is put in place, as they grow their attention will be focused on being good at their craft or niche, be it trade or service providing.
That should be the way forward for the Nigerian state in its effort to revive its dying educational sector.
#ThankYou
The rate at which Nigerian educational system deteriorates is alarming. Nigerians are worried over the level of decay witnessed in her academic institutions.
Today, Adebayo Adegboyega Olanrewaju writes on the need to restructure Nigerian's educational system.
One of the greatest challenges facing the Nigerian state is it's decadent educational system. Freedom fighter and democrat, Nelson Mandela famously said, *Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.*
The Nigerian state has so willfully left its entire educational system in ruins across all levels.
The more infuriating part of the blame is on our professors and the education dons in the educational sector who have done next to nothing as regards revising the syllabuses of the Nigerian educational system to prepare humans who can confront the realities of the 21st century.
Allow me start from our childhood, as far as my experience can stretch backwards, little improvements were made only in the aspect of technology. Asides from that, there has been no notable improvement to write home about.
I can vividly remember myself using slates in the early 90s, technology moved us forward, we started using pencils, pens, exercise books and blackboards, then came whiteboards; the digital age is now fully upon us; laptops, iPhones and artificial intelligence are the order of the day, sadly Nigeria is doing nothing to move itself forward. No public primary or secondary school in Nigeria uses internet-based learning tools. It would appear the educational sector is stagnant.
To my best knowledge and for the purpose of this small discuss, I will divide education into four basic parts
1) Basic Education
2) Theoretical education
3) Scholastic education
4) Financial education
*1) Basic Education*
*Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.* (Malcolm X)
Basic Education is the A, B, C to Z, it has to do with the 2+2=4 law we are taught at the basic level, anyone with this level of education is equipped to go into businesses and survive in the world, but often this survival comes with limits. Mind you, I'm not saying one can't survive without education, the best entrepreneur in Ogun state in 2005 to 2007 is not literate and can hardly write his own name.
*2) Theoretical Education*
According to Wikipedia "Theoretical Education means learning things without any practical knowledge." This is what we grow to learn in our secondary schools. Learning effective communication skills for use in our day to day activities and in achieving our more complex objectives.
It is at this stage that students make life-altering decisions; choosing diverse professions like Medicine, Insurance, Accounting and many others. Students are rarely, if ever thought the value of entrepreneurship or any other thing but the age old syllabus.
*3) Scholastic Education*
This is where most people miss it completely. Personally, I sought admission into 3 University for 5 years after graduating secondary school. None of them offered me admission. I wanted to study Industrial Relations and Personnel Management or Economics but I ended up choosing Business administration and management at Federal polytechnic, Ilaro, *"when what you want isn't coming forth, grab what you have"* Liberator Olanrewaju (2013).
At this point in my life there was no one to orientate me about who i wanted to become or about life and it's complexities.
I kept choosing universities without any idea of what I I really wanted in a never ending cycle.
At the higher institution, you have to learn about scholars, internalizing what one man wrote 100 years ago line by line, then sit for examination just to receive average scores because some lectures aren't good at reading and comprehending and importantly because they are underemployed.
Most lecturers only accept the teaching job to earn a living, they aren't true teachers, often they are trapped within their office and that's why most of them don't improve themselves and in the end can't adequately train students.
*4) Financial Education*
*Financial literacy is the possession of the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources.*
This is where I am actually headed, financial education is what Nigeria lacks and what the government needs to provide for the teeming student population. To reduce the threats to the economy, reduce poverty rate, reduce unemployability and reduce the unemployment ratio.
NB:-
a) *Reduction in the poverty rate will help to reduce ritualists*
b) *Increase in the number of of job providers will mark a reduction in unemployment figures while tax income for the government will increase as the number of firms increases*
c) *Reduction in unemployment will also reduce the rate of Cyber crimes and robbery*
The educational sector has belatedly raised the idea of teaching financial literacy at the tertiary level under a novel body known as The Entrepreneur Development centers, sadly it is coming onboard when majority are already exposed to making money from cyber crime or other nefarious avenues, for someone exposed to the hastily gotten avenue that is advance fraud, it is difficult to encourage them to learn a trade or work at an underpaying job that at best pays #20,000 every month.
The economy is in disarray. Truth be told the Entrepreneur Development center is doing its best, however, the ills of cyber crime, rituals and other vices that start from the secondary school are weakening its efforts.
Secondary level students should start having business and handwork knowledge and from the most basic of grassroots - primary schools, once this is put in place, as they grow their attention will be focused on being good at their craft or niche, be it trade or service providing.
That should be the way forward for the Nigerian state in its effort to revive its dying educational sector.
#ThankYou
Comments
Post a Comment