Mass failure threatening Nigeria’s education sector
All these are seen as issues that have been left unattended to over time, hence have now accumulated to a crisis point. However, if not for the massive failure of students in the recent West African Examination Council and National Examination Councils examination, the gloomy side of the sector would probably have gone unnoticed. […]
All these are seen as issues that have been left unattended to over time, hence have now accumulated to a crisis point. However, if not for the massive failure of students in the recent West African Examination Council and National Examination Councils examination, the gloomy side of the sector would probably have gone unnoticed.
The poor performance of students during the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) started becoming a cause for concern in 2007 when only 17.5 per cent students that year made five credits and above including Mathematics and English. In 2008, it was slightly better but none the less poor at 21 per cent. It further improved in 2009 at 26 per cent even if it was still a poor outing and in 2010 fell back to 23 per cent. During the last examination, it was 31 per cent, which was the best in four years.
The sorry state of the education sector is not just restricted to a particular level of the system but cuts across board. The primary, the secondary and tertiary institutions as well as public and private institutions are affected. Though there are several arguments as to the difference between the standards obtain in the private and public education systems in Nigeria.
A major negative factor that has become a cancer in the system is the issue of unqualified teachers. According to the chairman of Kano State Universal Basic Education Board, Alhaji Yakubu Adamu, Over 74 percent of teachers teaching in public schools in Kano State are unqualified, resulting in the poor results being recorded in public examinations.
In another recent findings by the Kano State government, the government revealed and confirmed that there are over 25,000 unqualified personnel teaching in various primary schools across the state, and another 1,600 in Junior Secondary schools across the state. These revelations came from Commissioner for Budget and Planning Alhaji Yusuf Bello Dambatta.
In Kwara State sometime last year, an aptitude and capacity test was organised for a total of 19,125 teachers in the state’s public school system. Out of these, 2,628 were university graduates. The teachers were given tests that were designed originally for primary four pupils in English and Mathematics.
At the end of the exercise, only seven teachers out of the 19,125 crossed the minimum aptitude and capacity threshold. Only one out of the 2,628 graduate teachers passed the test, 10 graduates scored outright zero. The teachers fared worse in literacy assessments which recorded only 1.2 per cent pass rate. More worrying was the fact that nearly 60 per cent of the teachers cannot read information or use the information in preparing a simple lesson.
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has spent several billions of naira training 416,760 teachers since inception in 2005 yet the high rate of unqualified teachers persists in the system. The National Teachers Institute (NTI) has disbursed N18.2billion so far for teacher training across the country and also the issue is still in place.
On Wednesday, 12 Oct., the Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Board headquarters in Abuja, Dr. Mohammed Modibbo has also confirmed the crisis of unqualified teachers in the sector. He said high rate of unqualified teachers in the system is adding to the problem.
Modibbo said this when Minister for State, Education, Ezenwo Wike visited the Commission. According to him, the desired result cannot be achieved no matter how much is sunk by UBEC for attainment of universal basic education. A cross section of stakeholders who spoke to Weekly Trust shared similar reactions and feelings regarding the various problems facing the educational system. The reaction of some stakeholders bothers on the corruption that takes place in the system. The level of corruption is not at the apex of officialdom but among the teachers and school authorities.
Giving his experience on the corruption that takes place at the school ground, Njom Nyambi, State Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Cross River State said, “I remember in 2002 when the Postgraduate Diploma in Education was introduced, they said that anybody with a second class lower can come and get the certificate and become a teacher, the NUT strongly rejected that move because what we want is to have credible teachers in the system not just those who can afford it. The monetary emphasis in acquiring certificate has translated to monetary corruption from the teachers’ end. Also, the better the condition of the teacher, the better the learning condition of the child. Hence government should try to make teachers happy, may be that would curb their corrupt tendencies and temptations.”
Ahmed Tijjani is the Executive Secretary of Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA), also a retired teacher and currently a NECO examiner told Weekly Trust that the examination problems in Nigeria are multifarious. “Firstly in 1986 I had the privilege of being one of the teachers who introduced the SSCE syllabus. The problem started then, you would see school classes with only two or three qualified teachers. Now, for these teachers there is no way they would go round each class because they are very few and probably unqualified. The teachers are grossly inadequate hence syllabuses are not properly covered, practical not done well. Students use cosmetic approach to pass exams then graduate to the university with result they cannot defend. You would see laboratories that are poorly equipped or schools that do not even have the laboratories but they are registered to present candidates for the SSCE and NECO. In such scenarios what do you expect? So it is a general systemic problem. As corruption and sharp practices are part of the lifestyles of many Nigerians, it has also gradually found its way into the education sector.”
Still putting the bulk of the blame on the hiring of unqualified teachers, Mr. Abubakar Sa’idu, a parent as well as a teacher says, “In those days we used to have exams taken by teachers before they can be registered into the teachers union or even the Teachers’ Registration Council. But these days it is not done that way. All they do is to collect money and show a certificate and you become a registered teacher. How do we know that the hands we are registering or recruiting are capable enough in teaching the students?”
A student, Johnson Ikpeana, who is the Speaker Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Children’s Parliament, believes teachers no longer play the advisory role they used to. “The problem of the mass failure in WAEC and NECO is not due to the students but due to the un-seriousness of the teachers. There is a difference between advising and teaching. When you are a teacher and adviser it would help the students. Students these days depend so much on their parents but if the teachers really try to advise them that they should be independent of their parents and try to become successful on their own, they would strive harder and face their education with every commitment. The problem I see is the lack of advice from teachers.”
But a teacher, Margret Ogbe, said: “We are not encouraged and it is a challenge. Sometime we are owed salaries for a long time while most of the time we are not provided with the materials we need to teach with.”
Mrs. Halima Babaji, a Head Teacher in one of the public schools in Abuja, shared her experience on the corruption and poor attitude to work in the system. “Some teachers are just here to make money as they can be hardly found in their respective schools doing what they are paid to do. If proper investigation is carried out you will be surprised to find out how many teachers collect salaries from different schools. These things happen because we don’t have an authentic teacher’s registry, so they can go about collecting salaries from two or more schools when they are really not doing anything. I know of one that is no longer in this school but still comes here to receive her salary. I’m sorry to say, but most teachers are corrupt. Most of what teachers in the public schools do can never be tolerated in private schools.”
Painting a gloomier picture, Chairman Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije said that there is no government, including the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, which can save the falling standard of education in the country. He said, “The kind of action we need is beyond any government. An increase in appropriation is very necessary, but the problem with our education is far beyond the federal government increasing allocation for the sector. Rather, what is required is increased participation by the private sector. Education should be the centre of their corporate social responsibility.”
However, Mr. Wale Samuel, who is the Policy Advisor of the Non-Governmental Organisations umbrella body, Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA), condemned Chukwumerije’s statement, saying that inadequate funding by governments is the major problem with the sector. Mr. Samuel’s argument is against the backdrop of the 7 percent budgetary allocation to the sector by government as against the 26 set by UNESCO.
As evident in the budget, from the N339.5 billion proposed for the sector, the sum of N279.314 billion is for personnel cost, N25.078 billion is for overhead while N35.088 billion is for capital expenditure.
Statistics released by the Federal Ministry of Education reveal that the country from 2006-2010 allocated less than ten per cent of the national budget to education, a far cry from the 26 per cent recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The highest released was 8.59 per cent in 2006 at N163billion when the national budget was N1.8trillion. In 2010, 5.3 per cent of the total budget represented by N271.1billion was allocated to education from the N4.4 trillion meant to be spent in that fiscal year. Education spending was therefore cut by 3.2 per cent from the previous year in 2009 when N226.6billion was appropriated from the N2.6trillion budgeted. Last year, Dr Steve Nwokocha, National Director, Professional Operations, TRCN, said in Lagos that teachers wishing to register with the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) were to sit for a professional examination. According to him, those who pass the examination will be awarded licenses to practice, while they will also pay their annual subscription to the council. What remains to be seen is whether these measures will help the ailing sector.