Nigeria’s education system is poor and disappointing for a country known as the ‘Giant of Africa’
NIGERIA: Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and like other countries, such as Pakistan, Nigeria also has problems and challenges which are stalling and hindering the development of the country. One of its major challenges exists in the education and university system. The level of education system of Nigeria is impressive for an average African country, but Nigeria is not an average country. Nigeria’s education system is poor and disappointing for a country known as the ‘Giant of Africa’.
One of the challenges facing Nigeria’s education system is inadequate qualified manpower which explains the falling standards of education. It also goes to support the age-long adage that “no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers.”
Former executive secretary of the National Universities Commission Professor Peter Okebukola restated the challenge of qualified teachers explaining that most graduate teachers are not professionals and are inadequately exposed to teaching practices while many of them cannot even communicate effectively in English. He also said that the low rating of the teaching profession manifested in the scanty applications for admission into education faculties and the college of education.
Just as corruption has played a large role in the setback of Nigeria, it has also played its part in the education system, particularly universities. Lecturers are known to collect money from students in exchange for good grades. Some say they have to bribe university administrators in order to have their exam results compiled and submitted to the required National Youth Corps. There is a lack of political will in dealing with corruption. There are few internal checks and balances in universities to prevent corruption. Beyond political corruption, the Nigerian education system suffers in other ways. It compares poorly not only to education in developed Western nations, but also to some African countries like Ghana and South Africa. In 1997 and 2000, federal government expenditure on education was below 10 per cent of the overall budget. Unesco recommends that the education sector should account for 26 per cent of national budgets in order to impact national development.
The lack of motivation is another reason for setbacks in the education system of Nigeria as it results in poor performance of teachers. Extrinsic motivation, in terms of salaries and reward structure, is pitifully low. The agenda for reformatting teacher education in Nigeria should go beyond improving teacher pre-service and in-service delivery systems, to improving the working conditions and welfare of teachers.
Many would agree to a long list of challenges facing Nigeria’s education system, some of which include the use of outdated curricula, inadequate basic infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate learning and teaching materials, low literacy level of the country and maltreatment of students by teachers, among others.
The Nigerian government needs to stand up to these challenges to make Nigeria a better country. They need to fork out solutions like enforcement of checks and balances in schools, active competition between schools, boosting the morale of teachers and students, and focusing on the literacy level of the country. If these are ensured then the education system in Nigeria will not only be the best in Africa but it will go as far as competing with the education systems of other nations.
Ojo Stephen Gbemisola
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2015.
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