By
Igwara Chukwuka
Anthony
Igwara Chukwuka
Anthony
“Fear the man who gives
good advice but does the opposite”.
It’s no longer news that twenty one thousand Primary School teachers in KADUNA
State of Northern Nigeria, failed a Primary 4 Competency Test paper. A serious
case of the hunter becoming the hunted. For most analysts,it was only a
confirmation of the status of the state as one of the Educationally Less
Developed States in the country. The damage done by this negative publicity on
the state that prides itself as the “Centre of Learning “and the host
of the famous Ahmadu Bello University and the National Teacher’s Institute is a
sad commentary on education and a scar on civilization and intelligence that
falls below the permissible percentage of folly.
good advice but does the opposite”.
It’s no longer news that twenty one thousand Primary School teachers in KADUNA
State of Northern Nigeria, failed a Primary 4 Competency Test paper. A serious
case of the hunter becoming the hunted. For most analysts,it was only a
confirmation of the status of the state as one of the Educationally Less
Developed States in the country. The damage done by this negative publicity on
the state that prides itself as the “Centre of Learning “and the host
of the famous Ahmadu Bello University and the National Teacher’s Institute is a
sad commentary on education and a scar on civilization and intelligence that
falls below the permissible percentage of folly.
The Encyclopedia Britannica
defined education as the transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge
of a society. It is designed to guide children in learning a culture, molding
their behavior in the ways of adulthood and directing them towards their
eventual role in the society. Everything in education- content, method,
discipline–must lead in the direction of mans supernatural destiny. It is
the responsibility of government to educate each child–without racial, social
or narrow intellectual restriction–to the limit of the child’s ability.
defined education as the transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge
of a society. It is designed to guide children in learning a culture, molding
their behavior in the ways of adulthood and directing them towards their
eventual role in the society. Everything in education- content, method,
discipline–must lead in the direction of mans supernatural destiny. It is
the responsibility of government to educate each child–without racial, social
or narrow intellectual restriction–to the limit of the child’s ability.
Act 1, Scene 1: Enter Nasir
El-Rufai, Architect and Governor of KADUNA State on a mission to sanitize and
rid his state’s educational sector of quacks.
El-Rufai, Architect and Governor of KADUNA State on a mission to sanitize and
rid his state’s educational sector of quacks.
While many have kicked
against El-Rufai’s reforms in identifying the “supposed quacks’ and the
multiplier effect of retrenching the affected teachers in this period of
economic recession; it’s important to analyse how and why we got to this
stinking situation since none of the 36 states is immuned from this ugly trend.
It must be noted that as societies grow more complex; the quality of knowledge to be passed from one generation to
the next becomes more than one person can know, thereby evolving more selective
and efficient means of transmission. Should our children receive education
built on a faulty foundation? It is time to speak against education that has
semblance with Spartan education which exposed children to dissimulation, lying
and theft.
against El-Rufai’s reforms in identifying the “supposed quacks’ and the
multiplier effect of retrenching the affected teachers in this period of
economic recession; it’s important to analyse how and why we got to this
stinking situation since none of the 36 states is immuned from this ugly trend.
It must be noted that as societies grow more complex; the quality of knowledge to be passed from one generation to
the next becomes more than one person can know, thereby evolving more selective
and efficient means of transmission. Should our children receive education
built on a faulty foundation? It is time to speak against education that has
semblance with Spartan education which exposed children to dissimulation, lying
and theft.
Act2, Scene 2: The need for
qualified and competent teachers.
It is laughable, ironic and damaging to the sensory organs that teachers
failed exams supposedly meant for their pupils. Pupils produced by quack
teachers spill on to secondary and tertiary levels with minds not well equipped
for further scholastic endeavors and ultimately drop out of School to become
social deviants who engage in vice for daily survival”(Afe Babalola). It’s
common knowledge that lecturers in higher institutions of learning assign work
meant for them to students as projects and assignments, thereby perpetuating
and expanding the inter-generational transfer of ignorance and mass
production of insufficiently educated minds. We are products of a generation
which believes in the fast-food approach to Learning.(The end justifies the
means). A generation that reads to pass examinations because of the premium
placed on certificates and one not adaptive to retain knowledge and details.
qualified and competent teachers.
It is laughable, ironic and damaging to the sensory organs that teachers
failed exams supposedly meant for their pupils. Pupils produced by quack
teachers spill on to secondary and tertiary levels with minds not well equipped
for further scholastic endeavors and ultimately drop out of School to become
social deviants who engage in vice for daily survival”(Afe Babalola). It’s
common knowledge that lecturers in higher institutions of learning assign work
meant for them to students as projects and assignments, thereby perpetuating
and expanding the inter-generational transfer of ignorance and mass
production of insufficiently educated minds. We are products of a generation
which believes in the fast-food approach to Learning.(The end justifies the
means). A generation that reads to pass examinations because of the premium
placed on certificates and one not adaptive to retain knowledge and details.
Familiarity , they say, breeds
contempt. I beg to ask: Did these sacked teachers fail to learn on the job?
Should a teacher perform below acceptable standards because of poor remuneration, infrastructural deficit and absence of instructional
materials? Have they been teaching without recourse to course content? Why did
they fail to deliver on the day it mattered most? What are the criteria for
employing and certifying teachers in this country? Which is more important in
employing teachers: certificate or competence?
contempt. I beg to ask: Did these sacked teachers fail to learn on the job?
Should a teacher perform below acceptable standards because of poor remuneration, infrastructural deficit and absence of instructional
materials? Have they been teaching without recourse to course content? Why did
they fail to deliver on the day it mattered most? What are the criteria for
employing and certifying teachers in this country? Which is more important in
employing teachers: certificate or competence?
A lot of these questions beg for answers. There is no substitute for
excellence, most especially when it concerns educating young minds. There
is need to re-evaluate school curriculum and criteria for employing teachers
in the light of recent revelations that many teachers possessed fake
certificates or were employed based on political patronage. Goverment at
all levels should also increase budgetary allocation to the sector towards
achieving Sustainable Development Goals in education–by 2030. Parents should
learn from this episode that the education of the child should not be left to
teachers alone…it should be a complimentary affair aimed at bringing out the
best in a child. Finally, pupils should be encouraged to participate actively
in class activities and ask questions that can expose quacks early
enough.(Whistle-blowers needed urgently)
Marble Hill School, Okpanam/Asaba
Delta
State
State
