The Deplorable Condition of Education in Nigeria Needs Redesigning.
Why Do We Need to Redesign Education In Nigeria?
One of the earliest social structure inherited by Nigeria in her post- colonial times is her educational system. Forged from the white man’s idea of a manifest destiny, the drive to civilize Africa meant that her citizens must be taught how to basically read, write, speak , and do sums. This responsibility fell on the government of the day during the post-colonial era. Arguably, the educational sector was handed over to them in its earliest stage of development and instituted in the constitution, it was promptly added to the concurrent list- made a responsibility of the state and local governments- as the federal government supposedly had matters of more importance to attend to.
So how effective has the educational system bequeathed to us fared?
To offer a panorama view of the state of the present educational system: it is simply a mess!
The accessibility rate to education in Nigeria currently stands at about 20.1 percent. With a population of 186 million people as at 2016, Nigeria is the seventh most populous nation in the world. Out of every four Sub-Saharan African, there is a Nigerian. Also, Nigeria is the nation with the highest number of out-of-school children with 10.5 million children lacking basic education. What is most worrisome however is not just the present statistics, it is the possibility that it is poised to worsen in a few years. The United Nation estimates that Nigeria will boast of a population of over 350 million in 2050 and this would make the nation the third most populous nation on the planet.
We could stop here and there would be no need for further conviction on the need to redesign Nigeria’s educational system, however, there would be a natural inclination towards assuming that the supposedly ‘educated’ populace are being properly educated.
A critical look into the use of a ‘dinosaur-age’ educational curricula will be a discuss for another time, however, the continuous recycling of a obsolete curriculum is a testament to the state of the country and its structure. With a fully functional Ministry of Education, the inability to recognize that an educational reform carried out for primary and secondary schools since 2008 can no longer offer the knowledge required in this age and time is appalling. The average Nigerian student is relegated to the backseat of knowledge acquisition in comparison to their peers in much more illustrious nations. If Nigeria has any concern about building a future, the educated populace need to be constantly keep abreast with global developments and trends. A conscious decision to improve the curriculum will not cost the government as much money when compared to scholarship funds spent on sending students abroad. The insatiable hunger to import knowledge and solutions instead of developing ours through a conscious thought process needs to be curbed.
Also, according to the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB), the available seats in higher institutions in comparison to the number of applicants is a ratio of two to one. In fact, despite this shortage for every student admitted to a Nigerian University, another three students has to stay behind. It is no wonder therefore that Nigerians top the list of numbers of international students from Africa. According to figures given by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIA), the number of Nigerian students abroad increased by 164 percent between 2005 and 2015 alone. With the emergent set of growing middle class spending prowress, it would not be too far-fetched to predict that this percentage would have had a significant increase since then.
An exigency for a reform, a redesigning of an half-baked system handed over to us by the colonialist is imminent should we plan on using education as a tool of development in Nigeria. The year 2016 was plagued by an unprecedented barrage of flaws in the educational system. While the annual ASSU crises seemed to have been significantly assuaged, the increment in school fees of various federal universities went as far as about 150 percent on the average. This is further accentuated by the deplorable living conditions of students and innumerable strike actions and school closures. Notably, the resultant effect of these closures are distorted timetables and delays in graduation dates. Yet, despite these closures, secondary school all over the nation churn out an enormous number of school graduates yearly.
At the basis of a thinking mind is a well of knowledge; it is from this well that ideas, thoughts and solutions emanate from. The backbone of any structure is its foundation and the emergent educated class are the best hope Nigeria has of finally taking its seat at the table among the world’s power. Should the government turn a blind eye to this, it would definitely haunt her in the nearest future. It is high time for a conscious redesign of the educational structure. This is the best way to lend a hand to a nation flailing helplessly in the midst of water that threatens to swallow it. With a median age of 18.4 years according to Index Mundi, and a literacy rate of less than 60 percent it would not be an exaggeration for us to suggest that Nigeria’s educational sector is in a state of emergency. It’s time to identify the fact that the existing structure is flawed and a newly designed system is no longer an option but a necessity.
