The Parish Priest of Holy Cross Catholic Church, Gwarinpa, Rev Fr. Nwaiwu Dominic, has blamed the decay in the educational system in the country on government interference in the management of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the country.
He said unless schools were returned to missionaries, the situation would get worse by the day, which would not augur well for the development of children and the society at large.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja during an award event organized by the Future Guardians Initiative, an NGO, Nwaiwu said that missionaries inculcate morals in school children in the process of educating them, something he said was not being practised by government.
He said: “We are only treating the symptoms without actually tracing the root cause of our decayed educational system. What is the state and level of training of the teachers assigned to our children? What are the facilities provided for schools to be run properly and efficiently? Most of these things are far cries from what we see on ground.
“The missionaries, who hitherto took charge of education, did not teach children strictly on intellectual gymnasium. There was a union or marriage between academic and morals. Should education be divorced from morality, then there is a problem. Just compare schools run by churches or missionaries and see for yourself that morality and many other foundations that education ought to be laid on cannot be found either in the public or private schools out there.”
On his part, the President of FGI, Mr Chidiebere Eze, said his organization will never rest until many abundant talents in Nigeria are discovered and harnessed for the betterment of society. He also called on government, organizations and well-meaning Nigerians for sponsorship, in order to be partners in progress.
“We believe that the education of children will help to prepare them for the future. Here at FGI, our slogan: “catch them young…build the nation” is targeted at helping those exceptional kids to keep excelling. There are a lot of children doing very well in schools, but are not identified, for one reason or the other. Therefore, our organization is poised to identify and sponsor them, so that they will feel important and appreciated.
“For instance, in 2016, we held a programme for students of Special Science Secondary School in Nassarawa state, where we awarded 215 students from JSS1 to SS3, who participated in quiz competitions on Art and Science subjects. We also awarded 96 children across three schools today. We are partnering with corporate organisations and other NGOs to encourage children to continue working very hard, even as we need sponsorship from government and well-meaning Nigerians,” he said.
