According to figures released recently by Dr. Charles Eguridu, Head of the National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), only 29 per cent of the 246,853 candidates who sat for the November/ December
examination obtained credits in five subjects, including English and Mathematics.
Compared with the figures obtained in the previous year, this is a slight improvement as only 26.97 per cent met the mark in 2013. It is, however, a fall when compared with the performance in 2012, when 34.84 per cent of
the candidates made the five credits including Mathematics and English Language required for admission into tertiary institutions in the country.
The performance of candidates in this critical examination in the last three years is truly abysmal. There is nothing to celebrate in these scores. We can only use them as a basis for comparison with the results of the past years and a call for deep introspection on the problem.
The figures are a sad reflection of the general state of affairs in the country, especially in the education sector. One way to begin the investigation of the poor performance of candidates in this examination is to ask about the
education budget in recent times? We also need to ask how much of that is dedicated to primary and secondary education.
Time was when we were serious about education. Then, during the era of the regional governments that led up to independence and right up to the Second Republic in the then Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) states, education accounted for a sizeable proportion of state and Federal budgets. Physical infrastructure like classrooms and teaching aids were provided and teachers motivated to provide quality education. Teacher-training schools were available and teachers were looked upon as models and important members of society.
But the rot gradually began to set in, and we lost our focus and misplaced our priorities. Today, teachers’ matters are attended to last, if at all. Nobody really wants to be a teacher. This is one of the tragedies of our lives today.
Whereas, in majority of the advanced countries that we look up to and want to be like, the teachers are celebrated and comparatively well-remunerated for their services. They have no reason to feel inferior to any other professional.
The children and their parents share in the blame. The majority of school children these days are no longer serious. They are mostly disinterested in their studies. Although the argument can be made that they are reflecting today’s society, they have a responsibility to manage its challenges. Rising advances in telephony, ICT and television technology and the many uses they can be put to distract students from wholesome learning. Even in classrooms, it is not unusual to find students fiddling with all manner of gadgets and patronising sites that cannot aid their proper development. Children are increasingly restless and less attuned to obedience to higher authorities. This is a challenge in the learning environment.
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