Princek12:

If people who schooled in Europe and America, among others, are shocked by the calamity of the pictures, then I can understand. But for people who schooled in Nigeria to act as if these same conditions were nonexistent when they went to school is to deny reality. Perhaps, the only difference from the classrooms in the pictures and the ones which were back in the day is that the olden classrooms had more desks and the floor had concrete instead of sand, but that's about it. I can understand that many diaspora Nigerians who schooled in deficient classrooms comparable to the ones in the pictures have been accustomed to seeing aesthetically sound and well furnished classrooms, so the picture of a classroom that is similarly situated to the classroom in which they schooled while they grew up now becomes offensive to them.

I schooled in Nigeria (primary/secondary and university levels). Primary/secondary learning conditions were not as bad as these pictures are now showing. The only schools that looked like this were the ones that used the 'Jakande' style of building but even then they at least had desks and chairs and 'roofs'. Besides, you could actually learn something at school.

As per the standard of education dropping sharply, that is easily believable when money that should be used to maintain and enhance the existing structures is siphoned off.

I taught in the North for a while and it was not unusual to come across students in Form 5 who could not even write down their name correctly in a simple sentence - the approach was just to push people onto the next level whether or not they merited the promotion.

One has to ask - what exactly are we re-branding? 

some of these pictures are just so sad!!
the primary school my mom attended (which is basically right next to my house in the village) looks 100 times better than all of these schools. kai!!
even the high school about a half a mile down looks soooooo much better.
and when i was there i didnt even think those schools looked that great they were okay. 
i guess i didnt see anything yet. 
i really feel for those kids, i didnt know it was THAT BAD!!
REALLY? WITH ALL OUR OIL MONEY? REALLY?!?!!?!?!?!
DAMN DAMN DAMN!!!!!!! 

I shouldn't be surprise

nice schools, what they ALL SHOULD look like.








[img]http://marshall.usc.edu/assets/041/9113.jpg[/img]


she is our future

When the schools are neglected, the country Nigeria is neglected and allowed to grow weary. What to do is quite smile but it's going to be harsh. A total overhaul of the teachers should be done and this could achieved by carrying out a compulsory screening on them to find out those that are really qualified to pass down the knowledge to the students. Teacher-student relationship is just like mother goat-kid goat relationship where the little ones (students)learn from teachers first hand. I could remember crystal clearly when i was much younger and i'll always say "Aunty Jane said it is , OR Aunty Jane said we should do it this way." Till today you still find the younger generation say it especially when you want to correct them in their behaviour, acts, attitudes, pronounciation, and much more. Truely, amending Nigeria is in our hands. LET THE LABOURS OF OUR GERMS PAST NEVER BE IN VAIN. SO HELP US GOD!

pussyboy:

When the schools are neglected, the country Nigeria is neglected and allowed to grow weary. What to do is quite smile but it's going to be harsh. A total overhaul of the teachers should be done and this could achieved by carrying out a compulsory screening on them to find out those that are really qualified to pass down the knowledge to the students. Teacher-student relationship is just like mother goat-kid goat relationship where the little ones (students)learn from teachers first hand. I could remember crystal clearly when i was much younger and i'll always say "Aunty Jane said it is , OR Aunty Jane said we should do it this way." Till today you still find the younger generation say it especially when you want to correct them in their behaviour, acts, attitudes, pronounciation, and much more. Truely, amending Nigeria is in our hands. LET THE LABOURS OF OUR GERMS PAST NEVER BE IN VAIN. SO HELP US GOD!

BEAUTIFUL!!! *ROUND OF APPLAUSE*


[size=3pt]funny name though, lol[/size]

D ones dat can speak good English can't be paid in "Good English"

English is not our mother tongue so please lets take what ever they give us abeg

CarlosVent:

English is not our mother tongue so please lets take what ever they give us abeg

and that makes it acceptable?
that is no excuse!!
only qualified teachers should be able to teach students, period.

lagos teacher cant speak english language ? is this a tribalistic memo or what

I think what the Deputy Governor meant to say was 'Many teachers in Lagos can't speak correct English' as opposed to the blanket statement 'teachers in Lagos can't speak English'. I'm wondering if she knows the meaning of not been able to speak a language.

JProspero:

It's not surprising. I did my NYSC in a Lagos Secondary School some years ago. I could not speak in Yoruba. I discovered that most of the JSS1 & 2 students could not communicate at all in English. Any time I had to talk to such kids I would have to call another student to be the interpreter.
. . .

@ least you can easily get interpreters, I served in the North and one of my friends had only 1 interpreter in the whole school and thats because the guy once lived in Lagos. Somehow the guy preferred interpreting for the female corp members and we had to wonder whether they were paying him. . . somehow. They teach English with hausa in the North and I'm not joking. Gaskia ne!

If we treat our children this way, then I wonder what will become of the our future as a nation.

Students dey know book pass the teachers sef.

tooooo bad[color=#006600][/color]

Princek12:

So are you implying that teachers should use their native tongue, say Yoruba, to teach English, Maths, Geography, etc, to students?

Yes. If you go China, they use their monther tongue to teach and they are leading in every aspects.

And so!Cum north and see.Yorubawa,u hav 2appreciate what u have

@muzbo.We cherish our language pass u pple

Oga Prince i repeat i schooled in Nigeria all my life, actually went to jakande's chicken house school , and it wasn't that bad. We had tables and chair, teachers that spoke well. Took exams from there and passed.
Other countries moved on and we  just regressed . A lot of us left private schools to go to state run schools and we were fine. Nothing would make me send my child to a state run school today,
All i know is that judgment is coming to Nigeria, the guys who think keeping people illiterate is their way of  clinging to power [resources]  are going to find themselves in big trouble.
Those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable.

We've identified the problems. What's the way forward? Most people will be traveling during the festive period - would you be so kind as to buy a pack of chalk or some school materials for that primary or secondary school that you attended? - Thanks

Cappadona123:

@muzbo.We cherish our language pass u pple

Naaaah, I think not.

The general consensus so far on this thread seem to suggest that a person's level of education in Nigeria is judged by their level of spoken English rightly or wrongly. Since as a nation we have adopted English as our official language in addition to our 3 main languages (including the other 247) we have to decide which is our first and second language - I want to believe that English is the latter. If that is the case, we have to treat it as a second language by providing support to help pupils with limited skills in the language instead of considering them as being illiterate. In the UK education system where I work as teacher, there is something called EAL (English as an Additional Language). It is a support system provided by schools to help new arrivals from abroad with poor English language skills to access the curriculum. Crucially on arrival, their assessment is based on their academic achievements which in most cases were achieved from education delivered in their local language. Data from the school where I work shows that most of these so called EAL go on and achieve excellent results both in GCSE and A/Levels.

We should promote our indigenous languages as much as we promote the English language because research has shown that multi-lingual capability promotes intelligence. Good education does not start and end by 'good' spoken English.

Nija4Life:


Good education does not start and end by 'good' spoken English.

Correct but it surely limits your ability to compete in the wider business world - imagine yourself as the HR officer for a company faced with interviewing 40-50 hopefuls looking for a foot in the door at your great company.

You only have openings for 2 people - how do you weed the others out?? I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

I don't believe that is really true

beefy23:

Correct but it surely limits your ability to compete in the wider business world - imagine yourself as the HR officer for a company faced with interviewing 40-50 hopefuls looking for a foot in the door at your great company.

You only have openings for 2 people - how do you weed the others out?? I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

It depends on what you mean by the wider business world - the wider business world in my opinion is a world where China and India are emerging world economies. Countries like the UK are investing in the teaching of Mandarin in some of their schools to provide pupils with basic skills of the language in recognition that to do business with these countries some knowledge of the language will facilitate better transactions. China are also doing the same in the teaching of English in their schools as a second language.

The wider business world is a world where in Nigeria over 250 languages are spoken and the more of these languages you are able to speak the better you are in a position to do business in most parts of the country.

There are many qualities you look for in a candidate for a job interview – a good communication skill is only one of them. I’m not an expert in the hiring and firing business but I’m sure most companies will consider your skills, experience, knowledge and competence for the job. An ability to speak a second language will also be in your favour.

If teachers in Lagos cannot speak good English then what do we expect from other remote parts of the nation.
The quality of teaching has dwindled over the years. So sad. Lack of interest on the part of the students hasn't helped either.

Everybody wan "hammer". Pidgin all the way. Na wah o!

Little wonder university graduates cannot speak & write good English. The excuse is "English is not my mother tongue"
So, so sad.

Nija4Life:


There are many qualities you look for in a candidate for a job interview – a good communication skill is only one of them. I’m not an expert in the hiring and firing business but I’m sure most companies will consider your skills, experience, knowledge and competence for the job. An ability to speak a second language will also be in your favour.

I agree with the broader context of your reply both as it applies to the world at large and also within the whole of Nigeria as a country.

I will stress though that good spoken English is an asset not to be tossed aside. In the UK (which I believe is where you are based) I'm sure you would agree that competition for jobs is intense - a candidate who turns up for an interview (if you even get that far) and is unable to communicate reasonably well will be given short shrift - EAL or no EAL.

How does this affect us in Nigeria - the world is now a global village and you can to a certain extent compete with nationals from other countries for business and employment opportunities the world over. If you can't frame a sentence correctly due to poor educational standards, you are at a disadvantage. Perhaps the only saving grace in this case will be if you know your onions well i.e. you are a master of your domain as opposed to going to Oluwole and purchasing your certificate  

beefy23:

I agree with the broader context of your reply both as it applies to the world at large and also within the whole of Nigeria as a country.

I will stress though that good spoken English is an asset not to be tossed aside. In the UK (which I believe is where you are based) I'm sure you would agree that competition for jobs is intense - a candidate who turns up for an interview (if you even get that far) and is unable to communicate reasonably well will be given short shrift - EAL or no EAL.

How does this affect us in Nigeria - the world is now a global village and you can to a certain extent compete with nationals from other countries for business and employment opportunities the world over. If you can't frame a sentence correctly due to poor educational standards, you are at a disadvantage. Perhaps the only saving grace in this case will be if you know your onions well i.e. you are a master of your domain as opposed to going to Oluwole and purchasing your certificate 

I've never undermined the importance of the English language if you read between the lines of my posts. The point I'm trying to put across is if someone has been taught most of his life in a language other than English that does not make him any less intelligent or illiterate. At the end of the day, English is only a language like you have French, Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Tiv, Igala, Kalabari etc. I wish we would be more worried about the growing inability of our children unable to speak, never mind write our local languages. Not that we even speak the language like the English people as some of us claim to do.

Some talked about how China use their language to teach kids, although this is somewhat true, the true question is how far those who were taught in Chinese accent gone far as those who learnt English as well? You see Asian international student in schools who communicate quite fluently as compared to their African counterparts who barely can put two word together, please no offense. If they did not learn it, they won't speak it. Then again let's not confuse language with intelligence, regardless of language one who is intelligent is and is not because of whether you are taught in English, Chinese or otherwise.

The world is is a fast changing environment and English is becoming or perhaps frequently used often and sorry if one cannot communicate fluently without the fear of being intimidated. English is not that hard to learn, so why not teach it?

This is really saddening, are those little kids sitting on the floor in a school? Several students sharing one table? That sure hell isn't a suitable learning environment.

@ Nija4Life

learning local languages is all fine and dandy if you're only thinking of trading locally. The moment you want to interact with the rest of the world though - you face a self imposed limitation.

The OP was hinting at the fact there seems to be a general level of apathy towards State level education as a whole as witnessed by the falling standards amongst those who are supposed to be vanguards of the sector. This is definitely not entirely their fault.

I would go as far as to say that if a teacher within Nigeria can't be bothered to master English as a medium of education who is to say that he/she (props to equal opprotunities) will even be bothered to ensure that whatever concepts (scientific, artistis, economic etc) are actually understand by the hungry minds under their sphere of influence.

manny4life:

The world is is a fast changing environment and English is becoming or perhaps frequently used often and sorry if one cannot communicate fluently without the fear of being intimidated. English is not that hard to learn, so why not teach it?

Totally agree with this point.

manny4life:


This is really saddening, are those little kids sitting on the floor in a school? Several students sharing one table? That sure hell isn't a suitable learning environment.

This is a symptom of a country with a ruling class that cares not for the welfare of its citizens. They're just focussed on their own personal enrichment - good leadership is something Africa is seriously lacking at the moment.