60 years of promises, policy inconsistency in Nigeria’s educational system

Despite great educational potentials in the last 60 years, the journey of educational policies and implementation has been tumultuous and warped, writes Head, Education Desk, IYABO LAWAL.

From being promising, the nation’s educational system has become an eyesore, warped, and tumultuous. Since 1960, the country has explored various approaches with almost every step seeming to be a misstep.

Prior to 1960, its educational system was fashioned after the British’s: six years of primary education, five years of secondary education, and two years of higher-level or A-Levels. There were resounding successes in terms of inputs and outputs. A couple of years after independence, the system changed.
 
In 1983, the education system was updated to the 6-3-3-4 system (six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary school, three years in senior secondary school, and four [not in all cases] years in higher institutions), similar to the American system. A decade after that, precisely in 1993, the Federal Government developed and adopted the first National Policy on Education. That signaled the genesis of changes and modifications at various levels in the system.
 
In the north of the country, the Qur’anic school system, with its attendant problems of lack of accountability, continued to thrive and run parallel with the national educational system. Even though the Universal Primary Education (UPE) made primary education free and universal, little or no attempt was made to make it compulsory for all children. 
 
The national education policy was once again revised in 1998 and 2004 to “make it relevant to the development needs of the country,” especially the north.

PROF. Kila said the sector could be measured by the sorry state of school infrastructure, low index of happiness of teachers, bad quality of school leavers, and a high percentage of parents sending their children to private and foreign schools.

FORMER Vice-Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Prof. Soga Sofola, said in the 60s, the nation’s educational system was functional and qualitative in all the three regions. There were good teachers and they were kept on their toes by education inspectors who checked teacher’s notes of lesson for adequacy of instructions, while the tertiary education system was comparable to what occurred in the advanced societies.
 
Secondary schools were also qualitative with a five-year school certificate and two-year higher school (A levels), then three years of university, five for Medicine. Later about the late 60s, preliminary university (now 100 level), was created and A-levels gradually phased out of public secondary schools.
 
This development, he said, contributed to the decline in the quality of university admission as a consequence of increasing access for admission, and also led to the proliferation of universities.

PROF Olukoju noted that inspite of the disruption occasioned by the civil war and prolonged military rule, the education system up to the 80s was characterised by maintenance of relatively high standards, notably, high quality of staff and students at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

“Low school enrolment, especially in the Northern Nigerian states necessitated affirmative action through quota system in admission into federal colleges and tertiary institutions, established by the government to promote national unity.

“An immediate consequence of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was the precipitous collapse of the value of the naira, which was accompanied by underfunding of education at all levels. Morale of teachers fell and over time, less emphasis was placed on quality even as massification took place without commensurate funding, provision of teachers, and adequate infrastructure.

He added: “There was steady dilapidation of school buildings, obsolescence of laboratory facilities and library holdings, neglect of teacher training, though National Certificate of Education (NCE) was made the minimum qualification for teachers. This encouraged a fixation on mere possession of certificates without content and quality.”

Prof Olukoju listed the challenges in the educational system as inadequate funding; financial misappropriation and graft; ICT gaps; high teacher/student ratio; poor quality control; teachers’ low morale and motivation; as well as low standards of public schools.

To address the problems, the distinguished professor canvassed an increase in budgetary allocation, monitoring disbursement and execution of projects, investment in e-library; internet bandwidth, online teaching facilities, training of more teachers, and subjecting them to retraining in basic skills and handling of online /distance learning.

On the various educational policies, particularly the 6-3-3-4 and 9-3-4 systems, the former vice-chancellor said there is a disconnect between conception and practical realities of its implementation, due to corruption, poor delivery, and insincerity.

To reposition the sector for 21st-century realities, Olukoju said there should be regular reviews of curricula and performance, and a national platform for comparing experiences within and across regions and states.

One thing experts agreed on is that Nigeria’s 60 years of tinkering with its educational system has not worked largely due to half-hearted implementation of the policies.