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A lot of fuss has been made about the educational system of Nigeria. It has even been claimed that relatively average students in the Nigerian educational system have both thrived and excelled when they travelled out of the country to the west.
When placed side by side with westerner universities our students more often than not return home with their tails between their legs.
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The two paragraphs above places us in a compromising and a somewhat confusing position. How can we excel when we go abroad and yet pale in comparison to them.
If the quality of the minds is not the problem then what is ?. If the quality of the students is not the problem?, then whose quality should be questioned ?.
This kind of talk leaves a dense mass of questions on the hearts of those who sincerely are patriotic and love our educational system.
Graduates are usually quick to be referred to as half-baked and not properly bred by their lecturers. And yet it seems to elude us all where the problem emanates from.
Maybe it’s the government, or the lecturers, maybe it’s the students or maybe it’s the mediocre mindset that we operate with in Africa.
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The truth is that no singular body can be blamed for the struggles of the system. Government policies and failures contribute immensely to the problem but so do some lecturers who have little or no business lecturing. It is not news to hear about lecturers who never attend classes and yet set examination questions.
I too am a graduate from the educational system in our beloved country and I have witnessed firsthand the major flaws of the system. From halls with not enough seats to seat the students, to unequipped laboratories, poor or no public address systems and a workload that would stress even a genius.
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How you view the problems depends on whose eyes you view them with. The lecturers blame the students and the government, the student blame the lecturers while the government blame the greed of the lecturers.
ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) have become synonymous with thunder because of their frequent strikes. They blame the government for not keeping their promises to take care of them. I totally understand that, because these politicians rake in a lot of money on a monthly and daily basis both legally and by corrupt means while lecturers who raise the future leaders and do honest work are left to suffer in penury. Lecturers have even begun to go into politics because the pasture on the other side is obviously greener. The lecturers also have a view that students are lazy and don’t want to work hard even with the internet and all its information at the tip of their fingers.
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The students on the other hand continuously blame the lecturers for constantly bombarding them with workload they cannot handle and a marking scheme that it far too stringent.
It forms a massive web where everyone is responsible for the problem in the system.
If the government paid more attention and allocated more resources to the educational sector, the system would definitely do better.
If the lecturers gave themselves more to their work and stopped blaming others and fighting themselves, then the system would definitely improve.
If the students paid more attention to their studies instead of trying to find short cuts and bribe their way through school, then the system would definitely be better.
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In conclusion, our educational system in Nigeria is in disarray and we all have a role to play to restore it to the top where it’s supposed to be.
We are Nigerians and our potentials are limitless.
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