WORLD LITERARY DAY: CHALLENGES INHIBITING THE DELIVERY OF QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE EDUCATION IN NIGERIA.

WORLD LITERARY DAY: CHALLENGES INHIBITING THE DELIVERY OF QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE EDUCATION IN NIGERIA.

Introduction

On September 8^th, Edward and I went to visit one of my prospects that work at FIRS office, Iponri, Surulere to retrieve an account opening package I had given him to fill-out a week ago. The traffic was not really friendly so we needed some companion in the car; I asked the driver to turn on the radio and he turned in to Radio Continental. They had some wonderful female presenters and they were discussing the rot in the country’s education system. They said today was the World Literary Day and issues were raised and discussed to critically examine the level of dilapidation in the country’s educational system.

What is World Literary Day?

Wikipedia explains that September 8^th was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17^th, 1965 and it was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. On this day, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - the arm of the United Nations that deals with education, children and youth issues globally) reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. According to a UNESCO report, 1 in 5: that's 776 million adults worldwide can't write their own name or read a line from a book; and two-thirds of them are women; 60.7 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.

Literary is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of English as the ability to read and write. It’s opens up a window of opportunities to every one of us, and is essential to our development. The theme for International Literary Day 2015 was “Literacy and Sustainable Societies.”

Why I Chose To Write About This Topic

A warm hello to everyone reading this lengthy but prodigious piece, do you think I need to state the reasons I chose to write about this topic? I believe you would assume that they are not far-fetched; writers write, don’t we? And it’s just another article, isn’t it?  No, this particular topic is personal to me because of my family background, upbringing and my general outlook on life and you would agree with me that I have written quite a number of write-ups on Education, Youthful unemployment and others. Education is the bedrock of any and every society; it ensures the dissemination of knowledge, skills and information through the employment of every means possible.

Obviously, no country can develop above the level of its educational system; this assertion is evidenced in the fact that most developed territories with the best universities, research institutes and study centers are on the top of the pyramid in terms of economic prosperity, all-round growth, development and significant breakthroughs in health, science and technology among other notable parameters. No doubt, the level of decay in education in Nigeria call for sundry concern, at the beginning of October (last month), we were scheduled to have our NABAFS elections and some Presidential aspirants distributed their manifestos and they had the opportunities to address us a day before the elections. I could not hide my disappointment at the grammatical cacophonies of laughable mistakes my would-be departmental Presidents were making. I marveled at the unforgivable mistakes my course-mates made. My country is really messed up.

The Challenges

The challenges are quite enormous, our dear country is structured in a way that ensures that nothing positive works out as intended. The predicaments are itemized below.

• Poverty- Our great country has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world but it goes beyond that. Most of these underage children are not only out of school, they are on the streets; hawking, trading, and begging for alms among others in a desperate bid to ensure that they contribute their quota to keep their families afloat. The story of Sheyi, a six-years-old boy that hawks before going to school in the early hours of the day and in the evenings when he should be preparing for the next day’s classes in my article; “International Day of the African Child: Nigeria as a case study” is real. We see these kids everywhere; from bus stops to bus parks, slums to highways, major markets to tiny streets and every nook and crannies of our cities and metropolis. They elk out a living on the streets, they try to hustle out something in a bid to contribute to the bottom-line.

• Parents and Guardians- The question someone somewhere would be asking is; “How has the Nigerian parent contribute negatively to the situation of education in Nigeria? We all know that parents enrol their wards in schools to ensure that knowledge is impacted but the bitter truth is that a great number of these parents are nonchalant or are too busy to investigate if their children are really learning the right things. How many parents make sure young Wole re-visits what he was taught or studied at school over the weekend? These parents make sure that young Wole does his portion of the house chores; he tidies up his room, cleans up the guest room, does the dishes and the laundry but do they really compel him to re-visit his assignments and classroom exercises?
  Massive failures at WASSCE examinations is becoming an annual disgrace, you would be forced to wonder if the standards for setting examination questions has changed because most of our parents wrote more difficult exams and passed in flying colors. My mom used to tell me that during examination periods, she and her friends would camp in tick bushes and fearful forests for days to ensure that they overcome all forms of distractions because they want to pass examinations. There are numerous revelations of how some devious parents, teachers, schools authorities connive with WASSCE officials to reveal examination question papers to students before slated days.

• Access to education- Federalism is one of the best systems of governance in the world but the Nigerian federalism is skewed by some self-serving persons with ulterior motives to ensure that some regions in the country are selectively favoured to the detriment of others. We have the highest number of out-of-school children in the world partly because the fate of the average Nigerian child in the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative education which is an important part of his fundamental human right could be influenced by the region he his born or where he lives which he has little or no control over.
  In his editorial for Financial Nigeria (Vol.7, Issue 83b June, 2015) titled “Hapless Northern Nigerians Cannot Continue to Be Political Appendages”; Jide Akintunde explained in broad terms why the northern part of the country has a lot of catching up to do. Excerpts for the article; “Borno State’s 1,799,669 registered voters for the 2015 general elections was the 14^th highest nationally. In the presidential election, Borno recorded 515,008 votes; the turn-out of voters was higher than what INEC recorded in 10 other states including Abuja. But four weeks after the election, when it was time to write the National Common Entrance Examination, only 55 students from Borno state participated out of the national total of 86,000. The state recorded the lowest participation in the country.” He continued; “even in the context of the abduction of the Chibok school girls, the gulf between participation in education and election in Borno tells of how easy it is for northern political elites to mobilize their compatriots for self-serving political purposes, but it becomes difficult when it is for development purposes.”

• Social Perception- the Nigeria society is not favourable to those that decide to take up the noble profession of teaching because most people believe that the occupation should only be reserved for the hopeless and the downtrodden. We want our children to be Lawyers, Doctors, Presidents, Ambassadors, Bankers etc. but we do not want them to be teachers or lecturers? The fact is those desires would only be mere aspirations if our children are not taught, nurtured and motivated to prepare them for the assiduous task of occupying those vantage positions by those in the citadels of learning.

The Way Forward

First things first, I believe the provision of adequate legislations that would make the atmosphere conducive enough for improvement should be brought to the fore. The sector is one of the most important sectors any country that desires viable growth and visible development in these difficult times must take with all sincerity of purpose. The provision of adequate legislations that would holistically combat the rot in the sector would only remain a mirage if the available laws and regulations are not strengthened before new laws are enacted. The best way to start would be declare a "state of emergency" in the education sector and meet with relevant stakeholders to deliberate and proffer solutions on how to reserve the fortunes of the ailing sector for the better.

Secondly, the Federal Government is advised to intensify efforts on how to invite private sector players on a modal Public-Private-Partnership framework so that an all-inclusive private sector collaboration that would ensure that no stone is left upturned can be initiated. The Lagos State Government achieved a lot of milestone using the PPP model during the last administration of Former Governor Fashola and am sure his predecessor would raise the bar to lofty heights.

Conclusion

The issue of "half-baked graduate and unemployable graduates is a sad reminder of what is obtainable in our country's places of learning. Knowledge is not impacted because the facilities, equipment and other gadgets that can aid a successful transfer of knowledge and information are either not readily available or short in supply in our various learning institutions across the country.  Interestingly, the Buhari's administration needs to make good on his campaign promise to ensure that budgetary allocations to the educational sector are increased in a triple fold in the next 10 years. The Buhari Presidential campaign organization promised Nigerians that if elected into power, he would increase allocations to education from the present 8% to 24% in the next 10 years and provide free meals to primary school children. I would love to see the President deliver on these well thought-out promises.

God bless Nigeria.

Olusanya, Oluwole Sheriff