How to Fix Nigeria: Education
By Steve A. Okecha
Sunday, September 28, 2008
If you are thinking a year ahead, sow seed. If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, educate the people. By sowing seed you will harvest once. By planting a tree you will harvest ten fold. By educating the people you will harvest one hundredfold.
Anonymous Chinese Poet, 400BC
There is no gainsaying the fact that education is a sine qua non of progress and development in any organised society. Education has been defined, in my opinion, in as many ways as there are cherries in Damascus. I have no intention, of engaging in definitional debates in this discourse. Suffice it to say, however, that I incline to Egbe Ehiametolor’s version: "Education is the acquisition of knowledge, the aggregate of all processes through which a person develops ability, skills, attitudes and other forms of behaviour with positive value in the society in which he lives." Education is a life-long process, which frees a man from ignorance and, to some extent, superstition. Education enhances the quality of an individual and enables him to build up his personality in such a way that he is able to play an effective role in the development of the society to which he belongs.
There are three forms of education: formal education, which one receives in schools; non-formal education, obtained from a semi-formal setting such as being an apprentice in a carpentry workshop; and, informal education obtained from the streets and peer groups. These forms of education are the contributory factors in an individual’s overall personality and perception of the world around him. There is no age barrier in education. This explains why an old English woman, many years ago, sat for and passed the O’ level examination at the ripe age of 90. She performed the feat after her son, a physics professor, had retired from a British university.
Section 18 of the Nigerian Constitution stipulates unambiguously that government should direct it's policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels; that government should promote science and technology; that government should strive to eradicate illiteracy, and to this end when practicable provide free, compulsory and universal primary education, free university education and free adult literacy programme.
Our National Policy on Education is hinged squarely on the main national goals of Nigeria, which essentially are the building of a free and democratic society; a just and egalitarian society; a united, strong and self-reliant nation; a great and dynamic economy; and, a land full of bright opportunities for all citizens. The philosophy of the policy is based on the development of the individual into a sound and effective citizen; the full integration of the individual into the community; and, the provision of equal access to educational opportunities for all citizens of the country at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels both inside and outside the formal school system.
Why, with these relevant provisions in the Constitution and the National Policy on Education, are Nigerian youths engaging in examination malpractices? Why are our youths vandalising oil pipelines? Why are Nigerians cutting electric cables meant for providing light for the people? Why are Nigerian girls fleeing Nigeria for prostitution abroad? Why have Nigerian youths become monstrous cultists? Why do university students offer money to lecturers to obtain high grades? Why do lecturers extort money from students? Why do parents hire people to sit for WAEC, NECO and JAMB examinations for their children? Why did a qualified Nigerian medical doctor lead a robbery gang? Why has, "If you can’t beat them, join them," become a national slogan? Why has, "Na where man de work naim ide chop," become a Nigerian adage? Why do some Nigerians spend hundreds and millions of naira on rituals?
The answer, not answers, to these questions is blowing freely in the wind: the defective education received by Nigerians – education that has failed to inculcate in the Nigerian child patriotism and moral values. This state of affairs, therefore, calls for the fixing or perhaps, the re-fixing of education in Nigeria.
Nigeria operated an educational system pyramidal in nature. The pyramidal structure of our educational disposition was the 6-3-3-4 system, which comprised Primary level: 6 years duration; Secondary level: Junior and Senior - 3 years each; Tertiary level: University - 4 years; Polytechnic education - 2 years of National Diploma and 2 years of Higher National Diploma; College of Education 3 years. The university was the apex of the pyramid while primary education served as the floor, standing on a small peg of pre-primary education.
Now primary education in Nigeria is subsumed into the universal basic education, UBE, scheme, which came into practice in 1999. An earlier introduction of the universal primary education,UPE, in 1976 was unsuccessful owing to poor planning, non-availability of reliable data, inadequate implementation, insufficient funding, lack of staff, poor management, limited infrastructure and equipment, unco-operative attitude of voluntary agencies, and lack of proper monitoring and evaluation.
The UBE provides a 9-year universal, free and compulsory education covering 6 years of primary and 3 years of junior secondaryschool. The scheme is all-inclusive; it encompasses rural, nomadic and urban slum populations as well as the physically challenged and street children, out-of-school children, hawkers and adults with special needs. With the introduction of the UBE the educational disposition is the 9-3-4 system: 3 and 4 years of senior secondary and university education, respectively.
Nigeria has about 60,188 primary and 10,913 secondary schools; 92 universities 27 federal, 30 state, 35 private, and 19 other degree - awarding institutions.
The entire educational system has been bedevilled by a myriad of problems, the situation worsening by the day. These man-made problems include: poor funding; shortage of quality staff; dearth of infrastructure; inadequate classrooms and offices; inadequate laboratories for teaching and research; shortage of books and journals; indiscipline; inconsistent and ill-conceived policies; corruption at high and low places; cultism; irregular payments of salaries; examination malpractices; embezzlement of funds; low staff-student ratios; poor record keeping; fraud and self-deception with regard to accreditation; infringements of institutional autonomy and freedom; disharmony among unions; appointment of headmasters or headmistresses, principals, provosts, rectors and vice-chancellors; failure to send staff regularly on short courses to improve and enhance their competences; and, the fact that government often reneges on the mutual agreements between it and the unions of educational institutions. Education is very poorly funded in Nigeria. Nigeria has, up till, now refused to comply with the UNESCO recommendation that at least 26 percent of every country’s annual budget be spent on education. She spends less than 7 percent of her budget on education. Botswana spends 19.0 percent; Swaziland, 24.6; Lesotho, 17.0; South Africa, 25.8; Cote d’Ivoire, 30.0; Burkina Faso, 16.8; Ghana, 30.0; Kenya, 23.0; Uganda, 27.0; Tunisia, 17.0; and, Morocco, 17.7 percent.
In the UBE guidelines, every primary or junior secondary school in Nigeria is expected to have one general science laboratory for elementary science and domestic science; one ventilated improved toilet for a maximum of 40 pupils or students per toilet; and, one teacher to handle only 40 pupils or students in a class. So far, these criteria have not been met due to scarcity of funds. In some primary schools, the pupils that constitute a class sit on the bare floor in a classroom with no single chair or table – an apartment that qualifies for listing as a shrine.
Most of the secondary schools lack classrooms, laboratories, basic laboratory equipment, and libraries. In the universities, for example, the scarcity of funds manifests itself everywhere on campus: no current books or journals, no laboratory equipment, limited number of lecture rooms, acute shortage of water, irregular and epileptic power supply, no basic chemicals, no specialised chemicals, "no nothing."
In some universities, a lecturer teaches 1,000 – 1,500 students in a lecture theatre without public address system. Those lecturers shout to the rooftops, and are devastated at the end of such lectures. Some lecture halls cannot contain all the students, and so a number of them stay outside – some peeping through the windows, while the others are busy pinching one another, playing and giggling. The situation in our educational institutions will improve considerably if the government spends at least 26-30 percent of her annual budget on education. The proprietors of private schools, polytechnics and universities should similarly fund their institutions adequately to enhance quality.
Teachers in public schools are poorly paid, some are paid N8,000 monthly. The amount of money paid to a member of the House of Representatives for one day’s lunch is equivalent to 14months salaries of a teacher in that category. Lecturers in our tertiary institutions are also poorly remunerated. The basic annual salary of a professor is N753,549, whereas that of the president is 3.5 million, while that of the chief justice of the federation is N3.4million. The salaries of an ordinary supervisory councilor N809,300 and a special adviser to the chairman of a local government council, N760,076 are more than that of a professor. What a country! A professor in Singapore receives ten times the salary of his Nigerian counterpart. The salaries of educators must be raised considerably as Nigeria has the wherewithal to do so. The irregular payments of salaries in educational institutions should be stopped instanter, not to lower the morale of staff. Education cannot be fixed in this country if teachers and lecturers are not genuinely motivated to perform their functions.
Nigeria’s educational system has been ravaged by corruption and indiscipline at high and low places; teaching and non-teaching staff as well as students perpetuate the evil. Illegal levies are collected by headmasters and principals without any show of decency. Varied forms of extortion and sexual harassment are the order of the day in the tertiary institutions. In some universities, some lecturers write seminar papers and projects for students for money. Some lecturers compel students to buy their handouts and the so-called textbooks. In fact, a number of Nigerian universities have been aptly described as "cash-and-carry institutions." Corrupt practices in our educational institutions can be curbed. There are institutional regulations designed to handle corruption and indiscipline. There are also laws enacted to deal squarely with corruption. These regulations and laws should be enforced. What is ICPC meant for? What is the EFCC meant for?
The problem of most of Nigeria’s educational institutions is that of leadership. Often, the "Nigerian factor" is used in the appointment of headmasters, principals, provosts, rectors and vice-chancellors. This means that such appointments are made without any consideration to character, experience and performance, but to ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, membership of cult, and "ability to play ball." This certainly does not augur well for the system. Visionary men and women, intellectually equipped, copiously endowed with initiative, and whose character is ever in credit, should be made to manage the affairs of our educational institutions.
Nigeria’s educational system has been bedevilled by inconsistent policies. The school calendars have changed with different governments. In the early 1970s the school year ran from January to December, with a long vacation from July to September, which enabled pupils to assist their parents during the farming season. The Gowon administration changed the school year to run from October to September with long vacation also from July to September, so that pupils could help their parents during the farming season. The Babangida administration again changed the school year to what it used to be, to enable pupils also help their parents during the farming seasons. This inconsistency brings to mind the title of the Zaria Rotary Club lecture by Kingsley Ologe: "One step forward, two steps backward and three steps into the bush: the wanderings of a wasted generation."
There was an attempt in the Obasanjo administration to privatise the unity schools. Teachers’ resistance and public opinion caused the government to shelve the plan. The government in 2006 took a decision to convert our polytechnics into universities. Again, the plan was shelved. Why should all the polytechnics become universities? What will Nigeria gain from such a policy? The planned conversion was uninformed. There is nowhere in the world where everyone possesses a university degree. Every serious nation requires technical middle manpower – graduates of polytechnics and technical colleges. Those responsible for the construction feats of Julius Berger are predominantly graduates of such institutions. The government should desist from destabilising education with inconsistent policies.
Cultism has infiltrated in full force into the educational institutions; there is cultism even in the primary and secondary schools. Full-scale clandestine cultism, which emerged in the campuses in the 1980s, reached a crescendo in the 1900s and 2000s. There are over 42 cult groups in the tertiary institutions. The daredevil cultists kill, rob, rape and engage in bloodletting ceremonies. They cause everyone on campus to be in terror of his or her life. What is even more worrisome is the fact that the patrons of these cult groups are some senior academic and non-academic staff, as well as prominent Nigerians outside the campuses. The private universities have scored a bull’s eye for visibly curtailing the activities of cults by flushing out identified members promptly. Cultism is a criminal offence. The eradication of the crime is not easy. Many universities treat it as a breach of the matriculation oath. Suspected cultists are made to face a disciplinary committee, and when found guilty, are expelled accordingly. Some of our institutions are not courageous enough to take the bold step. Reason: pressure from the rich parents of such students. In some cases, the university authorities handover suspected cultists to the police to face criminal charges. But the students are often set free at champion speed, thanks to the "Nigerian factor." Cultism cannot be eradicated completely from Nigeria’s educational institutions by the authorities alone, government must lend a sincere helping hand. All the laws banning cults in Nigeria should be vigorously and visibly enforced. In addition, counselling services must be made available to students. These services must be rendered by professionals with the expertise to guide and inculcate societal values in the students.
The Nigerian educational system has been bastardised by ceaseless examination malpractices, whose scale constitutes a national embarrassment. The culprits are primary school children, students of secondary and tertiary institutions who, employ sophisticated and ingenious devices. Their accomplices are the headmasters, principals, teachers, WAEC and NECO officials, supervisors, invigilators, parents, and law-enforcement agents. No nation ever thrives on fake certificates. Some of the youths including "born-agains" who parade themselves as polytechnic and university graduates are products of examination malpractices. Let our educational institutions sing as a chorus the glorious lines of Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s teacher: "In school, teach him. It is far more honourable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong." To curb examination malpractices, intensive counselling must be provided in our institutions. The laws on examination malpractices should be enforced and made effective, to save Nigeria’s educational system from plummeting. Ethics should be emphasised in all forms of education, for as Aristotle once said, "virtues are knowledge and should be taught."
There is shortage of staff in our educational institutions, and the quality of some of those in service is low. Some primary school teachers are stark illiterates; they can hardly make one correct sentence in English. In my view, 50 percent of the university lecturers have no business in the universities. Being in possession of a masters or PhD degree does not necessarily qualify one for lectureship; it is a calling. The NUC policy on the academic structure in Nigerian universities is: professors/readers, 20 percent; senior lecturers, 35 percent; lecturers I and below, 45 percent. The academic staffing profile is bottom-heavy in a number of the universities. Between 1979 and 1991, the number of academic staff in Nigerian universities declined due to brain drain by 13 percent, while the quality of staff declined from 91 percent in 1979 to 68 percent in 1991.
Considering lecturer-student ratios, lecturers in Nigerian universities carry heavier workloads than their counterparts in other parts of the world. The ratios of some countries are: Kenya, 1:8; Zimbabwe, 1:7; Mexico, 1:8; Brazil, 1:10; United Kingdom, 1:9, Nigeria, 1:19, while the UNESCO norm is 1:10. There is need for more teachers to be employed for our educational institutions. Primary and secondary school teachers should be trained, and retrained to expose them to new teaching techniques. There should be staff development programmes for the academic and non-academic staff in the universities, and academics should be encouraged to go on sabbatical leave to update themselves academically.
The Nigerian educational system is in jeopardy vis-a-vis quality control. The inspectors of education no longer insist on quality in schools as before. The accreditation of academic programmes is fraught with fraud and self-deception. The NUC was established to ensure that quality is maintained in the universities among other things. These days, many of the accreditation panels do not live up to expectation – they take bribes from the institutions, and thus make a mockery of a sacred national duty. Senior lecturers and "baby" professors are engaged by the NUC for the accreditation of academic programmes when "over seasoned" professors are on ground in such disciplines. Don’t say I told you: some academics now lobby to serve on the NUC accreditation panels. Inspectors of education and the NUC should ensure that good quality education is provided in this country.
Poor record keeping is a problem in many of our universities. As a result of this, some students are made to repeat courses they had taken and passed. Some of the lapses are deliberate – for corruption to thrive. Graduates of many universities go through hell to obtain their transcripts. Our universities have no excuse for not keeping records properly in this computer age.
Disharmony and disunity among the unions in Nigerian universities have occasionally slowed the pace of activities on campus. These unions should co-exist in harmony to enable the universities move forward.
There has been, since the late 1970s, an alarming infringement on the autonomy and academic freedom of Nigerian universities. University autonomy has been violated by successive governments through actions contrary to the statutes of the institutions. This has often caused problems. The executive and legislative arms of government should desist from the unwarranted interference in the affairs of the universities.
The equilibrium of the educational institutions has sometimes been deliberately disturbed by government, reneging on mutual agreements. An agreement is an agreement. The government should always honour all the agreements with the unions in the education sector in the interest of peace and progress.
Something has definitely gone wrong with education in Nigeria; this calls for a state of emergency in the sector. The typical Nigerian child is trained to accept explanations of events and not to question them. Thus, he grows up well-heeled in superstition, believing that everything is willed by the gods. Our youths should be taught early in life to think critically, scientifically and objectively.
Nigeria must fund education adequately, and should invest in the intellect industry. Japan has only air, water and sand – and, of course, brainpower, which is her main industry. Educators must be well remunerated to enhance commitment and productivity. The annual salary of the governor of Pennsylvania State in the United States is 150,000 US dollars, whereas the president/ vice-chancellor of one of the state universities earns 500,000 US dollars.
What Nigeria wants is education that injects ethics and moral values into the society. That makes Nigerians patriotic, and ready to die for Nigeria. That makes Nigerians shun in the spirit of Mahatma Ghandi: "wealth without work; politics without principles; commerce without morality; knowledge without character; religion without sacrifice; and, pleasure without conscience."
Fixing education is tantamount to fixing Nigeria. This is why one sees a misplacement of priorities in President Yar’ Adua’s 7-point agenda, where education is ranked FOURTH. Education should have been given a pride of place because the other components of the agenda require education to be accomplished.
Nigeria requires only one thing to fix education – political will, not rhetorics.
Steve A. Okecha is a professor in Department of Chemistry, Ambrose Ali University Ekpoma, Edo State.
|
