The Dean, Faculty of Education, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Professor Taiwo Edun speaks with TAIWO OGUNMOLA-OMILANI on why the education sector must be reformed, while noting that the Nigerian education system has witnessed growth without development.
Can you give an overview of the present state of education in Nigeria presently compared to what it was in the past ?
If you want me to describe the present state of education in Nigeria, I will say the Nigerian education has witnessed a tremendous growth without development and what I mean by that is growth in terms of share number; I mean number of universities will run to 150, the same for secondary schools but private and public and several primary schools here and there. Especially, primary and nursery schools are springing up everywhere. Most shops have turned to schools claiming to be training children. So there is tremendous growth in terms of enrolment and in terms of population of children we find in our schools. There are several graduates roaming the streets without jobs, so that is what I mean by growth without development.
Can you say we are in the right direction in that regards ?
We found that people are going to school but the quality of education they are receiving are questionable to the extent that there is a lot of emphasis on paper qualifications. Many people go to school today to acquire certificates and people parade it that I have HND and B.sc but in terms of the skill which is very important that makes the individuals useful to themselves is not there. In this respect, we are very far behind in terms of our ability to make our graduates contribute significantly to their personal welfare as well as overall development of the nation. We need to reflect on the education sector and see what we can do because parents have invested so much on the children. Education in Nigeria has been the largest industry and we are thinking that if we want to invest as must as this, for developing nation such as ours, we still need to develop in education. The question is how much dividend are we getting from the investment?
What can we do to improve the situation and the problems you highlighted so far?
The problem we have in the Nigerian education sector presently is large chunk of personnel that we have in the teaching profession and it is what I call unwilling teachers and it has to do with the pattern of recruitment. You will discover that in many universities today, many people go to faculty of education as a last resort. So most of them are there reluctantly and if you look at the pattern of admission in our faculty, you will find out that our social faculties have more discipline. I am always advocating that universities should not admit anybody that did not take education as his first choice into the faculty. It is better we have fewer teachers who are committed, dedicated and willing to do the job than to have millions of them that are not willing and going to the profession as a last resort. I wonder at times why our policies are counter- productive to the profession. The first problem with the education sector in this country was the cancellation of teachers training colleges because those who had passed through the college have been prepared and they know what they are going into. By the time somebody has a grade two certificate and proceed to earn admission into the university to study more, such a person would know that he’s ready for the profession and therefore he knows it is a calling. You will find out that few people that are committed were the product of the teacher training college but now that it has been cancelled, people just apply into university and because they cannot get admission into the first choice of their courses, they change to education because they want a certificate. Their attitude from the out-set is poor towards the teaching profession. The image of the profession needs to be reformed. Little wonder, today, none of our children wants to be a teacher.
Where exactly can be said to be the reason behind the poor attitude of people to the teaching profession?
To some extent, this has to do with remuneration of teachers and public attitude to teaching. I have reflected over this, it is the corruption in the system because people prefer to be custom officers, police officers, civil servants rather than becoming teachers because they know there are means of corruption in such areas. You will see custom officers who have houses and exotic cars but teachers are not known to be driving expensive cars. Teachers must support anti-corruption war. A graduate teacher today gets level eight, step three but others get level eight step two. If we can curb corruption in this country, people would learn how to leave within their means. Then we can now collectively fight for improvement on the civil service of all public officers including teachers. The resources that have been wasted through
corruption and money laundering should be pumped into the system to ensure that people are paid leaving wages. It is important to encourage those that are in the teaching profession and other things will follow.
Is it all about the teachers? What do you think of the willing students?
The problem is across the board right from basic education. It is the teachers that taught them at various levels and that is why most parents have lost confidence in schools but this is not solving the problem because what some of the private schools have is the benefiting building. What they want the children to do is to memorize and regurgitate. There is the need to look at the licenses of these schools to ensure that they have the quality teachers that can build the foundation.
In a specific term, what area in the education sector would you want Federal Government to address first?
There must be a holistic approach, this is not a matter of tackle one first and leave the others. We don’t want the system down, we should fight corruption first because this has destroyed everything and the resources meant for education system has been wasted away. That is why some people agitated for total overhaul of the education system in Nigeria. We should restore hope into our primary education system. Then we can rekindle public interest back into the public schools. The responsibility of primary education is on the government, the failure in this area led to the proliferation of private schools. We should ensure we invest in infrastructure at the primary school level in order for the children to learn in conducive environment. Teachers must also be motivated in all areas. Some of them are dead woods because their salaries are poor and they find it difficult to meet their basic needs and as a result, they engage in a part time job which has implication on the productivity. We are just hoping that government will address the problems in the sector.
How will you describe teachers in Nigeria today?
The Nigerian teachers today fall in the group of the oppressed and their fate has been jeopardized over the years. Their rights have been denied and the nation as a whole suffer for it. It is very apt that we should empower teachers because UN is now talking about sustainable development growth and we have not had this without education. If we want sustainable society, education is key. Teachers should be trained and retrained. Minimum of 26 per cent budget must be given to the education sector. It means education is very expensive.
Source : Leadership.ng