1-6-3-3-4 or 6-3-3-4: Does it matter?

I read with utter amazement that the Federal Government has apparently announced plans to ditch the new 9-3-4 system of education and revert to the old system of 6-3-3-4. However, from what I understand it will come in a slightly modified version called 1-6-3-3-4. In simple terms, the 'new' system will just have an Early years element to it. It's amazing that it's taken our politicians and technocrats over 50 years to suddenly realise that early years education should become policy. However, we never fall short of coming up with bucket loads of policies but what has always being lacking is the politcal will, lack of funding or should I say its misapplication.

As an educationist and teacher myself, education is a very expensive business and changes in policy even cost more in terms of planning and for it to have an impact in the classroom. However, judging by our dreadful record in policy implementation, I fear this may yet become another wild-goose chase which sadly has turned our educational system into the shambles it has become over the years. There's no doubt, systems can always be improved but I do not think our current system of education is really the issue. The real issues are to do with poor infrastructure in schools, poorly trained and inadequate teachers which have grave implications for teaching and learning. And to make matters worse, they need a 30-man committee to implement this 'new' system. Educational policies are implemented by teachers via civil servants through local educational authorities and not by politicians and technocrats.

Sometimes I wonder why we choose to do things differently in Nigeria and ignoring what seems to be the obvious. Who stands to gain from this new policy? Is it the politicians or the average Nigerian child? I'm definitely sure it's not the latter but I'll leave you to make your minds up.

Sliding down a slippery slope

Earlier in June this year, I wrote an article where I made some analysis about JAMB and the failure of public exams. This was prompted as a result of the fallout from the poor result which painted a grim future of how low our educational system has fallen. The results at the time showed that only 56% of the over one million students who sat for the exam did not manage to achieve the minimum 200 mark that is required to gain admission into Nigerian universities. Fast forward two months later and we have similar problems on our hands with the recent abysmal performance of students in the last May/June 2011 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, (WASSCE). A breakdown of the result showed that only 30 per cent of the candidates making credits in both English and Mathematics. Though an improvment of 5% from last year's record 25%. Details of the result also showed that the results of 81,573 candidates representing 5.29 per cent were withheld. The implications of the results would mean only a few students will have the necessary reuirements to gain admission into universities as most courses require candidates to have a credit in both English and Mathematics. However, we all know many more will gain admission nonetheless and there lies the problem of potentially drop in the quality of students entering universities.

Ok let me not bore you too much with facts and figures but in a country where students' performance in public exams is in freefall then what it shows is a reflection of ineptitude, poor planning and the all too familiar mystic of corruption that pervades our various insitutions. You add that to the failure of effective teaching and learning a consequence of lack of investment in the teaching profession down the years.

Without trying to sound like a doom's day prophet, I do worry for the future of the average Nigerian child and the future of the country itself. The word education is derived from the latin word  ēducātiō meaning (“a breeding, a bringing up, a rearing) but with poor performances like this I do not see any bringing up of the next generation of leaders in various fields of life anytime soon. This no doubt portends great danger for what lies ahead in a world where knowledge is not only power but at the heart of ideas that create wealth.

We need to start making things and turn away from being a consumer nation. But to make that shift we need an educational system that is well resourced, focussed and driven by high standards. When we start making things, that is what leads to industralisation and creates jobs which leads to more productive people and a happier nation. The future is no longer tomorrow, the future is now unless history will be very unkind to us.

Can Education be Free?

The new Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha on his inauguration on May 29th at the Dan Anyiam stadium Owerri confirmed one of his key election promise to make education free at all levels in the state. The question though is that can education be truly free? The simple answer is yes, but some understanding of the concept of free education could help. Free education is primarily education that is funded by the state without the need for citizens to pay or make financial commitments. This financial burden is bourne by the state by way of taxation but in Nigeria let's face it the major source of revenue is oil not taxation. Quite a number of countries especially those in the developed world offer free education to its citizens but the interesting fact is that even some developing countries notably Sri Lanka can also match that. Sri Lanka is not a particularly rich country in terms of income when compared to Nigeria, depending mainly on exports such as textiles and apparel, tea and spices; rubber manufactures; precious stones; coconut products, fish but it boast of an income per capita head of US$1,972, the highest in south Asia despite 26 years of internal conflict. You do wonder why Nigeria with an enormous income from oil, its citizens are unable to enjoy free education at all levels, but that is a debate for another day.

Imo State earns about 2.7b Naira (about 32.4b annually) monthly from the Federation account (source: Federal Ministry of Finance). I would also like to think they get a reasonable amount from internal revenue. The question though is whether this amount is enough to achieve this key policy of the new Governor considering other sectors of the economy that will compete for this same amount? Well that is a question for Rochas and his team to answer as I would imagine they should have made a thorough assessment of expected income and how they intend to allocate these resources appropriately. This raises the issue of accountability which is at the heart of why we have been denied basic rights like free and quality education in the last 50 years. In my view education should be made free and compulsory to at least up to secondary education. The future of our country does not depend on the black crude underneath the sea neither does it depend on buying and selling of all manner of goods from the far east. The future of our country largely depends on the ability of our children to develop the dynamism and ideas for new businesses, enterpreneurial skills and new technology that will create wealth in an ever changing world. This will only happen with an educational system that is modern, well resourced and with a highly trained manpower to educate our children. It is no good making education free if learning is going to take place under trees or where resource materials like books, ICT are difficult to come by. This is a smart move by the Governor no doubt and history tells us that the legacy of leaders that have invested in education lives for generations after them. The late Obafemi Awolowo whilst Premier of the former western region gave free eductaion to his people and that in my opinion gave people from that region a leg-up in education to this day.

Imo State boasts of some good old famous schools notably St Augustines' Grammar School Nkwerre, St Catherine's Girls Secondary school Nkwerre, Holy Ghost College Owerri, Bishop Shanahan College Orlu, Girls Secondary school, Emekuku, etc. Sadly these centres of excellence have been allowed to rot and decay as a result of neglect. We can only hope that a populist policy of this nature would help mend the broken legacy of education and more importantly benefit our children for generations to come.