If not that my parents are forcing me to go to school, I won’t go; after all, those that have graduated are not doing any better and the reason for going to school is to succeed.’’ That statement is typical of thousands of today’s youth who believe that the fast road to success lies in the entertainment industry.
Achieving universal primary education by 2015 is one of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for developing countries such as Nigeria. But, how can this be achieved with an illiterate youth population?
The United Nations Millennium Summit agreed that education remains the best way to fight poverty and improve the living standards of people.
However, in spite of the importance attached to education, observers note that Nigeria is yet to attain the desired level in the MDGs targets in education.
They argue that Nigeria still has a large number of youths who are not attending schools, while the rate of failure in external examinations is alarming.
According to them, the 11th Education For All (EFA) Monitoring Report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) states that about 10.5 million Nigerian children are not attending schools.
The report also states that Nigeria may not meet some goals of EFA by 2015, and that it may take up to 2086 before poor rural girls in Africa can have access to education.
Citing results released by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council of Nigeria (NECO), among others, the observers believe that Nigeria has more to do in that regard.
In response to this challenge, the Federal Government says it is targeting enrolling no fewer than two million children for basic education in 2015 to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
According to the Federal Government’s initiative, the enrolment will be supported by incentives such as free feeding, books and uniforms, among others.
President Goodluck Jonathan said that the government would continue to place emphasis on retraining of teachers; training and education of children and youths.
“No meaningful development can take place in a country without the contributions of quality teachers.
“Education, as the bedrock of civilisations, forms part of the Transformation Agenda and other economic policies,’’ he said recently in Abuja.
Nonetheless, stakeholders in education note that the rate of failures in the recent West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) leaves much to be desired.
The result indicates that 70 per cent of candidates who took the May/June 2014 WASSCE failed to obtain credits in Mathematics and English Language.
Mr Charles Eguridu, Head of National Office of WAEC, said out of the 1,605,613 candidates who sat for the examinations, 529,425 candidates, representing 31.28 per cent, obtained five credits, including Mathematics and English Language.
According to him, 145, 795 candidates, representing 8.61 per cent, had their results withheld for alleged examination malpractice.
In comparison, 61 per cent of the candidates in 2012 did not obtain five credits including Mathematics and English Language, while 63 per cent of the candidates also failed to obtain five credit including English Language and Mathematics in 2013.
Some stakeholders in the education sector attributed the failure to the attitude to education by students, teachers, parents and the government.
Professor Chris Okoro, the Commissioner for Education, Enugu State, attributed the mass failure to poor reading culture by students.
“Students no longer read because they know they can engage in examination malpractice; so, how do you think they can pass the examinations?
Okoro said the mass failure could also be attributed to lack of proper coordination by the students during the examination.
“It is time for stakeholders, such as the students, teachers, and parents, among others, to take responsibility for their actions,’’ Okoro said.
Mr Lawal Adebola, a senior official in the Ministry of Education, Ogun State, also attributed the mass failure to lack of commitment from students, teachers and parents.
“We cannot blame a specific group for the mass failure, it is a collective responsibility, we are all guilty and we need to look for a way out to solve the problem.
“We need to work harder to ensure that students at that level are well catered for by the government, by the system, the school and teachers,’’ he said.
Adebola said there was the need for the re-orientation of students to actually know why they were in school and the essence of WAEC certificate.
In her view, Mrs Elizabeth Ugo, the Commissioner for Education, Benue State, said the mass failure could be linked to “unserious attitude’’ of some students.
Ugo called on teachers to ensure that students were taught with the required syllabus in order for them to do better in the future examinations.
“Many children today do not read but spend so much time on the internet. We have to imbibe the culture of reading in our children,’’ she advised.
Mrs Justina Uzoma, a parent, said students were no longer encouraged to take their studies seriously since they believe that there are other ways of succeeding in life.
She said many of them, seeing what the entertainment industry has to offer, prefer to go into entertainment rather than study to pass their examinations.
“My daughter once said it is even better to win one of these reality shows than win a school competition, where, all you’ll get at the end of the day is exercise books, or a miserly amount for scholarship,’’ she said.
Corroborating her position, Abayomi Akerele, a student, said: “Instead of punishing myself to pass in WASSCE, I rather register for these reality shows where I can make instant money.
“If not that my parents are forcing me to go to school, I won’t go; after all, those that have graduated are not doing any better and the reason for going to school is to succeed.’’
Stating another reason for the failure, Mr Emmanuel Ejiofor attributed it to lack of proper supervision by teachers and the inconsistency in the educational system.
“It is the fault of the government at all levels. We do not have a consistent or long-term policy in the education sector, which is a setback,’’ he said.
Chief Yomi Otubela, the Chairman, National Association of Proprietors of Private School, Lagos State branch, blamed poverty for the poor quality of education in the country.
Otubela advised the government to effectively enforce the Child Rights Laws and uphold the right of the child to education through the provision of qualitative education at affordable cost.
To address the challenges, Mr Raheem Segun, the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers, Lagos State wing, said all tiers of government should be involved.
He also said that the Federal Ministry of Education should call quarterly stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the challenges facing the education sector.
He agrees with other stakeholders that teachers’ salaries and allowances and the cost of running schools should also be made a point of first charge in the federation account.
Stakeholders say that providing the necessary academic environment and employment of qualified teachers will drastically improve the performance of students’ in external examinations.