The 6-3-3-4 of the Nigerian educational system confers sixteen years of rigorous training on students in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. The plan, however, has been as slow as a snail in a race.
Over the years, the decline in the Nigerian educational system has caused several challenges for the country. These setbacks resulted from many factors such as poor funding, inadequate facilities, shortage of qualified teachers, uncultured students, poor parenting and guidance, indiscipline, examination malpractice, outdated syllabus, ineffective governmental policies, amongst many others on the endless list.
The education of a child starts at home. By implication, for a child to have a grounded education, they must have a solid educational background. In Nigeria, parents send their children to learn everything in school when those children are not ready to learn. These same parents buy grades to fast track educational process; they pay to get questions for their children, protest for double promotion and
attack teachers who beat their children to correct harmful acts. On the other hand, some parents do not have time for their children; their family structure is disintegrating, and as a result, they are inattentive to their children’s performance. It results in a setback in the advancement of education in Nigeria. It is, therefore, not a gainsaying that the importance of parents in the betterment of education is inevitable.
Following this, many students are uninterested in education. They do not want to thread the tedious path, so they opt for the fastest route to success. They make infrequent appearances in school and defy school instructions; some are dormant in-class activities while others find it challenging to comprehend lessons; thereby resulting in poor grades, dropouts, ignorance, increase in crime rates, etc. With this, the progress of education is hampered. The Nigerian educational system is devoid of achievements, excellent results, innovations, advancement and promotion since neither the parents nor the students are helping matters.
The parents and students are the driving force behind the drastic decline, and the teachers are saddled with the responsibility of imparting knowledge to the students. One would ask how education would be
advanced when those who impart knowledge are inept.
Many teachers are not qualified enough to endow students with beneficial knowledge; they are incapable of teaching the correct values and raising the ban of intellectual competition, enhancing the quality of
education and providing well-educated Nigerian students. This situation hinders the long term progress within the educational system.
Most importantly, the role of the government in the shortcoming is glaring. The quality of education virtually falls in the hands of the government. They are the first pillar to create a standardised educational system.
However, the reverse is the case. The Nigerian educational system’s decline starts from its fingers and descends to the grassroots level. Eighty per cent of the problems facing the educational system in
Nigeria influences the government. Undoubtedly, education is the government’s priority but a political game. Consequently, the lack of effective governmental policies, misplaced priorities, bribery,
corruption, inadequate funding, selfishness, unpatriotic acts, laziness, poor governance, etc., impedes the rapid growth of Nigerian education.
What is next for the Nigerian educational system? Why should negativity be attributed to it at all times? What will change this narrative? When will it change? Who will change it? Why should we change it? And how will it become a great thing? These are the questions to solve the problem, which may take years to find the correct answers. Until we are ready to surmount the challenges before us, the Nigerian educational system will continue to go deeper and deeper into the abyss.
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Adeyemi, Shukroh Feranmi
400 level, Department of English
Lagos State University.
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