Dear Friends - Like me , you are confronted with the hues and cries of our analysts, commentators and media-savvy Consultants over the fact that Nigerian education is in the pits!! For sure , they do have a point , education overall has gone through rough times , there were years the teachers were not paid for months , infrastructure were left to rot etc - however, we need to put this into context - Most countries may be facing the same challenge!! It is certainly not limited to Nigeria. But let's focus on Nigeria for now.
The analysts reference a few pointers to justify their claims - low (30%)pass rate in English and mathematics plus 3 other subjects; inability to find suitable graduates for 'existing' jobs in organizations and sometimes , poor infrastructure in our schools from basic to tertiary institutions.
While I do agree something may have happened , I am not so sure about the claim that education is in the pits!! , I do agree that these are different times and the children and graduates of today are sure different from those of the 1960s , 1970s and 1980s that we usually reference.
I will ask us to rethink this thinking and here are the posers!
- Why is it that the graduands of the 1960s to 1980s who had 'better education' successfully ran down most of our organisations , introduced nepotism into our lives , ran down our country and it's infrastructure. If you check Nigeria's policy on education as updated in 1999, education is tailored to equip students with the behaviours , skill sets and competencies to contribute to build the nation state. I am not sure the schools leavers of those days were really equipped to achieve this objective. I can remember, the kind of people we had as Supervisors when we joined the labour force in early 1990s - God save us from incompetent souls!
- Has anyone checked the pass rate of WAEC (English and mathematics and 3 other subjects) in those so called 'good old days' that we are all quick to reference ? Did we have more than 30% of candidates passing as we do have today? I will advise you check your alma mater to confirm this.
- How come we spend so much money training up today's graduates from Nigeria to Bermuda to Somalia to Canada , yet , 'experts tell us we cannot find qualified graduates to fill existing vacancies in organizations ? Are we falling prey to what is called 'shock marketing' ? send message of an impending doom and people 'want' your offering. The private and foreign universities may be smarter than us all!! We need a check.
- Shall we rather say our education needs to be re designed and delivered differently to be able to produce outcomes desired to propel our development needs ?
My dear friends , welcome to 2015!!
Let me have your perspective after you reflect on this 'food for thought'.... No hurries, I want you to reflect on this please.
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