The subject of discussion today had been something that for some days bordering my mind. A blessing or a curse sounds a rhetorical question, but its not.
Its a question that you and I must answer. We all know that Nigeria education system is in a state of malady. A diseased body needs a medication to cure it. But when the medication is under-used or wrongly used it enhances the virulence of the disease. Such is the state of education in Nigeria today. The Government had failed woefully in their responsibility towards education.
And the private schools owner that arose like the biblical Moses also had been compromised.
We thought they would be a curing dose to our education system Male habitus. But instead theyve proven over the years to be wrong prescription. Rather than being a panacea to our disease they compound it. Their act is crippling the system beyond measure.
How then can we come out of this waterloo?
Before any reasonable answer to that question I will like to take us down the memory lane:
Western education started in Nigeria in 1842 only at the primary level by Christian missionaries who then oversee the educational system according to their respective credos.
It was seventeen years later (i.e. 1859) that, secondary education was introduced. And the first secondary school was CMS grammar school, Lagos. As at that time the British colonial Government didnt interfere in the education system due to reasons which may be political or perhaps financial. But later in 1872 they started interfering in the education affairs by supporting the missionary societies. In1882 they got themselves fully involved in education, and that was the first time schools were classified into private and Government schools.
The public schools got financial aids from the public funds while private on the other hand got little financial aid from public fund.
In 1887, in an attempt to further improve the existing education system, the British colonial Government established more schools. And also encouraged voluntary organizations, missionaries and private individuals to establish schools by granting them financial aids.
Let me quickly put a full stop to the history of Nigeria education and bounce back on the subject of discussion.
As we can all see, its evident that when private schools were controlled by the missions there were little or no loopholes. Until the private individuals were granted franchise to establish schools.
Those were the time when examinations were still standard. Now I cant see any standard in the education we conduct today, both external and internal. And this is the result of the misdeeds of the private school owners.
They encourage malpractice and laziness among students by assisting them in exams, automatic promotion is guaranty once school fee is paid. They turn their schools to miracle centre where students enroll for exams and pass without their brains.
Till we meet again, I remain ODUNAYO SAMUEL AKERELE
Remember, keep being you and keep being good.
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