@op you did a good job! I think we have to look at the root cause of the problem and what has been fueling it! Firstly I would like to hold parents accountable for the rot in our educational system (likewise every other sector), unfortunate I can not differentiate these parents from lecturers since they are both parents and lectures, including those that are not. I remember vividly back then in school, when we went on a nine months strike on issues relating to cult activities combined with ASUU strike. Rather than going to Enugu campus to study I prefer going to a primary school close to the house. On this faithful day, it turns out that they had FGC entrance examination and the primary school turns out to be one of the centers. If I told you I saw parents sneaking in "expos" for their kids, you won't believe me. It was an eye-sore! That very day I wept for my dear country!I am sure it was not peculiar to that center! This happened about 8 years or so and I am certain these same crop of students are the one in the university right now. Who are equally most of the ones you meet on NL, what do you expect given the foundation that was laid for them by their parents?

As per the issue of special center, special center is not cheap in the first place, which mean for those kids to come up with the money their parents most be involve ( mind you I am not saying that there are kids would probably tricked their parents into paying for special center without them knowing), which brings us back to the parents getting involve. The issues of siblings helping their younger ones out in O'Level/JAMB examination is something the parents have to share in. I have heard a parent telling the elder child to remember to go and assist the younger during one of such examinations and given the number of siblings that get involve in such, I doubt if all their parents are not aware.

Just like every single problem in Nigeria, I think the solution lies with the family unit, as long as the family units, which is the first line of defense, continues to turn blind eyes to the activities of their wards, I doubt if we are going to make any progress! I hope that someday the family unit would realize is role in nation building and live up to expectation. May God help us!

firstolalekan: Na today?


it has tayed...

We are complaining about the present morass into which our education sector has been ditched and you are here calumniating, corrupting, murdering and burying the English language.

I don't want to feel angst at your grammatical handicap. I'm only worried about the bleakness of your academic future.

As a result they have become the result of mediocrity and unemployable materials.

When I was in primary sch in minna in the early 80s, our school was half the size of lagos island. And it was the only school about 5km away. All the children in my locality attended the school. Went there about a month ago and found out that all the school lands had been stolen and private houses built all around it. Even the football field had been torn apart. And there are over 20 private schools now in that locality

PLEASE WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THIS SEASON FILM WILL LIKE TO BUY A COPY LATER IN THE EVENING

dridowu: I remember when i gain [/b]admission then, i saw lot of WAEC/NECO/JAMB SCORES that are superb but immediately after finishing 1st year, the school was able to seperate the real men from boiz, and today to God the glory.
Hmmmmm, standard of education [b]are fallen in Nigeria cos of so many factors
(1) social activites , imagine a student that cannot define a " Noun " but has about 3pages of exercise books of 2go friends and can name 90% of them without looking the books, etc
(2) parent, some of our parent have a fault, by not forcing their children/ward to do what is right, i remeber a neigbhour that fails to buy books for his child after 2months holiday and later he was saying that he does not know that the school has resume.
(3) Govt policy: that fails to yield positive result
(4) School Mgt and Teachers
(5) student itself that fails to utilize the little resoures that are available.

Please check your grammar. See graduate!

I remember telling my friend few days ago that nobody forced our parents to read. They wanted to learn, and hence read everything at their disposal. We were forced to read, but at least, we read. The present generation, hmmm. No comments.....

Excellent topic,this is the kind of discourse I love to read and expect contributions from people. However,my generation will be arguing about whose ethnicity is better. I paid very high fee for my relations in a certain Nigerian private university and each time I receive a text message from them, I just conclude I am wasting my money.
The questions now is,are those responsible aware of this wrought? How can those responsible live up to their responsibility if they are allowed to sneak their kids abroad?
Last time I checked,nigerians spends billions in Ghana looking for quality education. Imagine our universities closed down now for months,instead of NANS to put pressure on government,they are divided amongst political and ethnic lines. They forgot the enormous power they can have when United. What a generation!

me_for_you: When I was in primary sch in minna in the early 80s, our school was half the size of lagos island. And it was the only school about 5km away. All the children in my locality attended the school. Went there about a month ago and found out that all the school lands had been stolen and private houses built all around it. Even the football field had been torn apart. And there are over 20 private schools now in that locality

So u studied in minna at your primary level? Well minna is peaceful and private schools have taken over from public schools.

Still in minna though #Eminado#

corruptst: I could remember vividly few years back when Etisalat stated emphatically that they needed applicants for their Graduate Trainee Programme irrespective of the course of study. I learnt from a reliable source that they employed all 1st class and virtually all 2nd class upper candidates that applied. If you have been a member of Association of Unemployed Graduates since then, you don't need to explain, we understand your situation.

Nairalanders are not even left out of this decadence. Yoi see a topic on front page and when you quickly take a peep into it, it's a different story entirely. If you can't present a suitable title for your post, how then can you write a business proposal, application letter, letter of invitation, letter of reference, etc. I shake my head. The use of English on nairaland is no poor that we may have to beg the administrators to include a grammar check software to save us from persistent 'gunshot'. 'Bastardization' of the use of tenses, word structure, concord, and what have we, all exist. I always have my fun moments though. Association of Unemployed Graduates. Lol! You need to see the written English of some posters (not all) in this section. Practically, unemployable English. No offence intended.

You also start wondering what planet most posters come from. From the 'End time things' posters whose only sensible thing to say is thus. Imagine being in an interview and they ask you to comment on an issue and all you have to say is "End Time Things". My brother, your employment letter is reserved for you in Heaven. The '1st to comment' people kinda make me wonder of our educational system is breeding intellectuals or clowns. Rather, I should ask my 'able moderators' if there is a prize attached to making such annoying proclamation. And for those who think using the pen for tribal bashing is fun, my guesses are that you either didn't pass through a higher institution or the higher institution you claim to attend didn't pass through you. I am not sorry to say this.

As a way of concluding this piece, reality shows, musicals and sports are fast replacing educational programmes on screen. A below average student can authoritatively tell you how many goals Messi scored in his career, how much Mikel Obi currently earns, who won the champions' league in 2002 including the top goal scorer then, the winners of MTN project fame from inception till date, where Davido is this afternoon and what he ate this morning, etc. Why can't they channel this energy and obsessive information seeking into their education and/research and let's see how things will go from there. These are the same set of people that cannot tell you the first president Nigeria had or tell you the second line in the National Anthem yet d unreleased remixed version of Skelewu is in this their skull.

All stakeholders and the government must wake up to their responsibilities. What the future holds for our educational sector and our youth, all I can say is, "Time will definitely tell".

I hope this post makes front page.

You talk like a sage. Nice piece.

So all these people on this thread don dey form say dem sabi book abi?
Who come be the olodos

Ok I'm just kidding it's a terrible thing really.
Just go to the higher institutions. Any examiner who doesn't let the students cheat is termed ' wicked lecturer'
That's how bad it is. It'S now the norm

wat has "1st 2 comment" got 2 do wt learnin more ova wu tld u dat der r no beta students out der wu r d product of dis present educational system @op as 4 d topic i guess d fault lies wt d parent wu dnt kia abt d type of sch their wards go 2 der r lot of gud sch out der i was so surprise wt d level of phonetics spoken by my niece wich was lackin as at our tym so m conclutn s der r beta & worse schs nw dan bak den

UNICAL rejected a research-mined professor, in order to appoint an indigene as VC. And its common practice in Nigeria. NYSC complained recently that over 80% of Corps members are unable to write one good paragraph. And they're all vying to occupy positions of authority that require analytical thinking. Nigerians ain't seen anything yet. Now na morning.

As a kid, I remember my Dad dropping my siblings and I at Enugu Library during long vacation.
I remember reading Newspaper every evening with my Dad as a kid of 5. It was interesting. It was a family tradition.
You and I, what are we passing down as a tradition to our children? Nigeria is in a mess, yes, but I bet you the clean up should start from the homes. Our country can only get better when we make the effort teach our children to be unique and not to have crowd mentality.

Folks, if you keep discussing about the rot in our system, you won't end the discussion. Besides, the lamentation(s) about this decadence will keep going on an on, without giving out a hint on how to curtail it.
First and foremost, stakeholders in the education system in the world got into the system because of passion, desire, zeal and committment towards reproducing a research-minded and studious generation. In Nigeria, my blessed country, the stakeholders are those who have no business being there at all. Many got into the system because there is no job for them to do, while those who have the passion for it looked (and are still looking) the other way because the sector is not encouraging at all.
Another thing is displaced passion. This morning, I was pondering why my blessed country hasn't produced another set of Achebe, Soyinka, or even rising Adichie and some other folks we know little about? Reason cannot be far-fetched. Studying literature will only place you nowhere in the comity of the society like those who study some type of programs, even when it's glaring that such a chap is a promising brain in the world of literature.
In today's Nigeria, it is hardly difficult for someone that attends a public school to pass excellently in standard exams, while it is as cheap as a satchet of drinking water at those private schools. Care to explain why?
Proprietors will tell you that it's because of their passion that they established their schools (though not all of them), but I used to ask myself why they couldn't use the money to develop a public school to the model they desire or nurture in their hearts instead of building one. Your guess is as good as mine.
Another factor is our value system. How do you expect a society that worshios money to thrive? "Why person wan kill himself sef? Afterall money go do am." That is the attitude on display by our parents to examinations (majority of them). We have had our values brutalized and now evolving towards 'valuelessness', thanks to the positioneers in authority at different levels.
In almost all universities, we have the faculty of Education and this implies that Nigeria can boast (if it is the right word to use) of professors in the area of education, yet we have been crying about the standard in the area of their expertise and none has come out to propose a model/theory or plan to combat this menace ravaging the future of the country. Then what are those folks doing at the university walls if they can't be of help to their nation? Maybe competing for the position of who collects the best salary or has the best ride?
Why my country cannot boast of technical colleges is what is battling me till date. Those days, technical colleges used to prepare and groom technicians or would-be engineers, but that can't be said today. What do we have nowadays? Mental toture all in the name of reading.
Ask my dear Nigerian students to go for internship, where they have the privilege of getting first-hand experience of what they have learnt theoretically in school, they would be asking you how much the firm/company will pay them. Do I blame them? Of course not; our societal value has been turned to money-worship value.
I believe we can do our part. How? As an individual, walk to any of those public schools you see around. Identify a need there and try to meet the need. You can donate to a library or encourage the best student there by giving books or awards. I believe this will spur competition among the serious ones studying there. I am also of the opinion that those who are planning to establish a university should start with a standard technical college, like the ones our fathers attended before they went to the unviersity. It will help a lot.
I hope we retrace our steps back to reality before we drown finally because a stitch in time saves nine.

Fallen standard of education is as a result of irresponsible govt.

Yea, you are right, the academic standard of our nation is dilapidating, but i believe failure is personal, we can blame the government, parent or the system, we are only decieving ourselves.
Taking a clue from benjamin franklin, he never had a primary education but he made an impeccable decision of rising to the top, Today! He has a place on the dollar. He wasn't a president but he has a day dedicated to him(am not sure if any u.s president have that honour accredited to him)
he made an indelible mark on history....

.

Following meticulously

We are trying. We will get there oneday. Everybody is to blamed, parent ,teachers ,student and even the government

lets remember that when the night get darker, the stars shine brighter......

Well,the abbreviation issue is not really what you think thou its true for some people.
I type with just one finger! So, sometimes,I really need to abbreviate inorder to shorten my post but I don't abbreviate all my words except replacing 'you with U' , because with cause' etc but I only do that on line not when writing with a pen and paper but I can neva replace I am or I'm with am! Never!its totally not right.

@ topic,the standard of education in Nigeria is really something to be ashamed of, when the leaders have turned a blind eye to it,the comman man has followed suit!
Op I guess you know about the 'special centres'. A place or school where people irrespective of age and size go to 'buy' WAEC and NECO result. I used the word buy because that's simply what they do and at the end they get the best results, they buy their admission,buy their grades from corrupt lecturers and sometimes even buy their jobs! That is how bad the country not just the educational system is and the examination board cannot tell us that they are not aware of these special centres.

It's all about getting the certificate with no value attached to it.
All our youths want to do now is get into the entertainment industry...its all about fast cash and they will be quick to remind you of the 'big boys and girls' who didn't need education to get to where they are.
God help us..

ifyalways: On point!

Its pathetic. Check on Nairaland too. They abbreviate because they don't know the right spelling and they don't want to learn either.

ifyalways: On point!

Its pathetic. Check on Nairaland too. They abbreviate because they don't know the right spelling and they don't want to learn either.

They abbreviate because they are lazy. Nairaland has a spell checker.

Arouser:


Please check your grammar. See graduate!

thank u mr lecturer but next time always include correction for easy learning, morever u can only judge me when we meet not by online.
I hope say u gbadun my comment

.

Yomieluv: The education level is a deplorable situation now. It has turned to if you can't beat them,you join them. Imagine a parent walking up to you to assist their ward for examination,and if you didn't cooperate,there are thousands that would do it willingly.

What do we have now,half baked graduates,not even helped by so daft lecturers who specializes in textbook reading,with little or no effort to explain.

At the secondary level,its either you assist your students,or you will see your student dumping your school,to where miracles are happening. Most school aren't after teaching per say,but the money they get through giving assistance to students during exams.
Imagine a secondary school,employing an SSCE holder to teach student in SS class,what knowledge can he impact,if not for garbage..

I believe the major cause is unemployment,where people do thing to survive,and later turn it as a form of lucrative job.

per se , not per say. 9ice write up though

nneh1: This is very pathetic. I had to warn my little cousin who is 18yrs not to send any text message to me if the grammar is not correct. All they know is abbreviation,wizkid,davido,p square,mikel obi,toyota camry etc. God have mercy on our educational system because it makes me weep.

i love u baby

@OP....This is a very nice topic! But don't be disappointed, many NLers won't be interested in a brain-tasking thread like this where unmeaningful contributions can quickly be pointed out unlike threads on celebrities' marriage, fashion style, secret lives, scandals and music videos where even the dumbest person can destructively criticise with cynic comments just to 'announce' him or herself on NL.

So, what is the way forward? These are my suggestions:

1. Nigerians have a bad orientation as regards most things that pertain to education. They would rather allow a gifted child waste some years in a tertiary institution just because we are certificate-obsessed in this country. Tertiary education shouldn't be meant for everybody! It's not every child that has the intellectual capacity/ interest/passion to go into courses that require University education. After secondary school level, wards should be given the opportunity to diversify. Vocational training should be encouraged and not looked upon with disdain. Then, the academically inclined people who also have passion for research would be the ones gracing the four walls of our tertiary institutions; dexterous children can learn vocational skills and become experts; talented ones can go to music and film schools etc. The government should also organise various symposia and programmes to reorientate the populace so those that didn't attend a tertiary institution are not frowned upon. Then, let's see if those that apply for UME and so on won't reduce. The desperation to cut corners just to get an admission would be reduced since we are now aware that academics is not the only 'way'.

2. I will still emphasize on the reorientation again of Nigerians towards the issues of University and Polytechnics. The latter shouldn't be treated as an inferior learning centre to the former. Employers should please take note.

3. Scholarships should be used to encourage students interested in the academic field especially the indigent ones. And some specific disciplines should be encouraged for a positive result on the macroeconomic level. The government constantly preaches that youths should go into agriculture, yet, there are no 'incentives' in place to even encourage those that are studying agriculture-related courses in schools. Most agric students are made to feel inferior to students of 'professional courses' whereas they should be encouraged so they can develop the little they learn into solid agricultural practice. Educational shows should be equally encouraged. I am not anti-entertainment, but most of the shows/competitions that grace our screens are singing and talent shows. Educational shows like the Zain Africa Challenge should be encouraged.

4. Needless to say, lecturers and teachers in all educational levels (not just those that have a union called ASUU, ASUP etc.) should be 'treated well' in terms of payment but still, money shouldn't be the main driving force of an individual that wants to devote a portion ot his or her life to passing knowledge to young, brilliant minds and raising world leaders. It should be passion and the fulfillment enjoyed in doing what the person loves. Therefore, teachers and lecturers should be seriously drilled before they are employed to see if they are fit for the job. Some lack patience and we soon hear of flogging of erring students to coma etc. The teaching job is a serious job as much as that of a health personnel and should be treated as such.

I will be back with more points later...I am hungry. #Pounded yam and Okro tinz#

firstolalekan: Na today?


it has tayed...

o boy , u must teach English language oo

Did the OP just say "fallen standard"? Was the standard high before?

dridowu: I remember when i gain admission then, i saw lot of WAEC/NECO/JAMB SCORES that are superb but immediately after finishing 1st year, the school was able to seperate the real men from boiz, and today to God the glory.
Hmmmmm, standard of education are fallen in Nigeria cos of so many factors
(1) social activites , imagine a student that cannot define a " Noun " but has about 3pages of exercise books of 2go friends and can name 90% of them without looking the books, etc
(2) parent, some of our parent have a fault, by not forcing their children/ward to do what is right, i remeber a neigbhour that fails to buy books for his child after 2months holiday and later he was saying that he does not know that the school has resume.
(3) Govt policy: that fails to yield positive result
(4) School Mgt and Teachers
(5) student itself that fails to utilize the little resoures that are available.

Pls work on how to make good use of both past and present tense..it really matters alot