Rejuvenating Nigerian schools

Today, many issues are affecting the smooth running of schools across the country. To stem the tide, three key factors came under scrutiny a few days ago. They are cultism, inadequate provisions of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and poor reading culture such that when these challenges are addressed, the fortunes of the schools would be improved and the impact of education can be better felt. From the perspective of the Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi, the high rate of cultism and violence in secondary schools to lack of parental care. According to him, lack of parental care had led many children to go astray, adding that proper monitoring of children was the responsibility of parents. 

He cautioned that parents should not overlook the moral upbringing of their children even while working, saying “We should not allow our business to take away our parental duties. No child will not want to misbehave, but it is the responsibility of their parents to correct, discipline, and enlighten them on the right path to follow”, he stated. The Police spokesperson maintained that parents remained the first and best teachers their children could have, stressing that they needed to work hard at making sure the menace of cultism did not rear its ugly head in society. Oyeyemi, a Deputy Commissioner of Police said, “In those days, children were usually brought up by the people in society, but now that is not the case. You cannot correct any child in the neighbourhood, again”. 

He called on secondary school authorities to have a Department of Guidance and Counselling and a lot of extra-curricular activities that would keep students busy and improve their knowledge. The PPRO emphasised that the police, which are saddled with the responsibility of internal security, had been working hard to reduce the menace of cultism to the barest minimum. Meanwhile, the government has been charged to increase and provide standard ICT centres in schools to increase the performance of students in examinations. They charged the government to provide enough ICT centres in all institutions and also extend such gestures to the rural area with facilities, especially the Internet, to enhance their performance. The Principal of FUNAAB International School (FUNIS), Mr. Isaac Ogunbunmi said the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) should approve only standard ICT centres for the conduct of the examination.

He said JAMB cannot be totally blamed for the poor performance, adding that candidates should be well equipped through adequate and proper training. He said, “there is no miracle in any examination, it is what you put, you will see”. Furthermore, the Head of External Examination at FUNIS, Mrs. Abimbola Ayanwale, said students should be willing to go the extra mile for them to excel in their various examinations. She said JAMB had introduced a lot of measures to alleviate problems experienced by students, adding that some of those measures also come with a lot of challenges. “Biometric issues is still a factor that they need to improve upon”, she added. Mrs. Ayanwale admonished teachers and parents to give the children proper training and candidates too should be up and doing, and start preparing for the next examination now.

In a similar vein, an appeal has gone to governments at all levels to add reading to the school curriculum in the country in an effort to reflect the values, context, needs of the people and promote reading culture among Nigerians. This charge was given by the Founder of the Sixth Sense Initiative, Mr. Abiodun Lasile, who said there was the need for the government to provide more library facilities, where people can read and learn to cultivate and imbibe the reading habit, stressing that writing and reading were key to people’s survival and advancement. According to him, reading remains a personal habit and aids development, which makes someone that reads to be proud of himself or herself. Mr. Lasile urged parents to cultivate the habit of buying books for their children so as to encourage them to have the passion for reading, even as he called on students to always be determined to learn how to read and understand, and not just go after acquiring certificates as is the case. 

He appealed to the government, corporate bodies, and individuals to do more at promoting the reading culture by supporting people with reading initiatives, noting that presently, the nation’s economy does not appear to encourage reading while blaming the poor attitude of people to reading books as being detrimental to both personal and national development. The various positions on what needs to be done, and as suggested by the different discussants above, on the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State Radio Station, FUNAAB Radio 89.5FM live interactive programme, Boiling Point, certainly requires the political will, planning, and collective efforts by all stakeholders – government, educational administrators, parents, and law enforcement agents, among others – to play their roles effectively in bringing normalcy and sanity back to our schools.