…this piece continued from here.
It would interest you to note that most of the technical works presently done in China and her likes are carried out by the school children.
Nevertheless, barely few years ago, China was recognized as one of the third-world countries in the world alongside Nigeria and other developing nations. But today, China is among the world’s ruling class as regards science and technology.
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In a similar spirit, there is an urgent need to reintroduce History subject, which has abruptly vanished, into the Nigeria’s school curriculum. In this regard, a law mandating every tertiary institution in Nigeria to offer History as General Studies ought to be enacted by both the National and states legislators.
It is pathetic that most of the young ones barely know their past or lineage, and such anomaly is solely as a result of the sudden disappearance of History as a subject from the nation’s education curriculum. It’s worthy to note that without knowing your past, you can never comprehend where you are headed.
More so, world-class libraries, laboratories, and research centres, should be establish in all the existing primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the federation, which would go a long way to enhance both the reading culture and the practical method of teaching faced by the pupils and students.
The medical and engineering undergraduates ought to be meant to pass through befitting teaching hospitals and workshops, respectively, upon graduation, to enable them acquire the desired skills.
Also, well-equipped national engineering workshops are expected to be established at strategic localities in the country, so that, any graduating engineering student would be meant to pass through any of them. This shall serve as a prerequisite to the ongoing mandatory National Youth Service programme, just as it is observed by the graduating medical students.
In the same spirit, the ongoing Industrial Training and Teaching Practice schemes embarked upon by the students of the Nigeria’s Universities/Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, respectively, must be taken more seriously by the concerned authorities.
The officers assigned to supervise the students, or visit the various firms or schools where they claimed to be, should endeavour to pay regular sudden visits to the said establishments. This measure would help to eradicate any form of insincerity found among the trainees since most of them prefer to dodge the training, thereby enabling the institutions to actualize the primary aim of the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES).
More so, the institutions involved must, on their part, endeavour to encourage their respective supervisors by providing sound vehicles and other logistics for the national consignment.
On the other hand, the tuition fees, or fees for municipal services, of all the public citadels of learning in Nigeria must be revisited by the appropriate authorities with a view to reducing the fees to their barest minimum, so that, it would be affordable by every parent or guardian. The private owns should equally be monitored.
Due to payment of high tuition fees, some of the less-privileged students often indulge in menial jobs to enable them assist their parents/guardians, or to supplement what they receive from the said benefactors.
By so doing, they would pay less attention to their studies, hence resort to indulging in examination malpractices, cultism, armed robbery and other kinds of criminality, which ends up affecting their academic statuses negatively. Most of them even become dropouts in the long run due to the financial challenges.
Most importantly, government ought to endeavour to employ qualified applicants to teach in all the public institutions regardless of their levels, including nursery, primary, secondary, as well as tertiary. Engaging quack teachers in the public schools has cost the nation a very grievous harm, hence cannot afford to pay more for the damages already incurred.
Thus, formidable and trustworthy agency must be set-up in earnest by the governments in this regard in order to put to stop nepotism, lack of due process, and all forms of corrupt practices affecting job recruitment.
The governing bodies of the various tertiary schools, must on their part, endeavour to fish out lecturers in their respective schools that are accustomed to such any social scandal as, but not limited to, blocking otherwise known as ‘sorting’, sexual molestation, sale of handouts, or what have you, that are currently on the rampage in these institutions.
These governing bodies ought to be meant to be answerable to the aforementioned proposed agency in respect of discharging their duties effectively and efficiently.
Above all, conducive or enabling environment are expected to be provided for the teachers at all levels. At the tertiary level, befitting offices should be allocated to both the academic and non-academic staff to enable them discharge their duties as required.
The teachers, especially the lecturers, ought to be meant to receive reasonable amount of money regarding their levels/cadre as salaries and they should be paid as and when due; and all their entitled incentives are supposed to be revisited from time to time for onward review if necessary.
No doubt, this measure would help to eradicate all manners of corrupt practices namely, admission racketeering, examination malpractices, sorting, just to mention but a few, taking place in the various schools as well as help to put a full stop to the incessant industrial actions invariably embarked upon by the teachers at all levels, particularly the tertiary ones.
The private sector ought to also be mandated to follow suit as regards revitalizing the nation’s education industry. In view of this, any private institution that is unable to live up to the expectations should be shut down indefinitely by the apt regulatory body, such as National Universities Commission (NUC), National Polytechnics Commission (NPC), Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB), or the state ministries of Education, as the case might be.
It’s needless to state that Nigeria has suffered tremendously in the area of education, thus it’s high time the governments crucified any monster behind the lingering mind-boggling ordeal.