Education is said to be the development, improvement and concise effort put into learning (knowledge and Skills) to bring out or develop potentials. In other words, education has a lot to do with a better lifestyle.
Having said this, it is then correct to say that a good education should increase a child’s creativity. Flashback to the good old days say the early 70s’ and 80s, when education was education, mean those days where at the mention of schools like Federal government colleges(now known as Unity schools), Kings and Queen colleges, Mayflower school Ikenne, Missionary schools and a host of others, it was easy to objectively rank their performance. Back to reality, what I see around me leaves a lot to be imagined.
Let’s take a look around the world with particular reference to countries like Indian, Canada, UK and a host of others, what we can see is a well-structured and balanced educational system, devoid of irregularities to a large extent.
Let’s come back home to our country Nigeria, an average school is built around so much paraphernalia that one begins to imagine the substance to be dished out to students.
Some days back, I was opportune to read a broadcast on WhatsApp which has set me thinking, to say the least. It is no longer news that there are sites on the internet where students are given correct solutions to examination questions for as low as N400 naira. These answers are for examinations to be written real time. With a subscription of N800 naira, the students get to have the answers sent directly to their respective phones. How did we get to this level?
Suffice to say that an average Nigerian school, especially with the introduction of the privately owned ones has but one objective, profit-making, to the detriment of sound education.
Let’s go real. Parents need to sit up as a wedge to put an end to this negative trend. How often do Parents checkup on their children/wards at schools, I mean spot checks. Yes, with activities like open days and PTA’s meetings, it should make things easier but the reality is that most parents do not avail themselves of such opportunities. There is a need to know how your children/wards are performing academically by being part of their world. It is not enough to pay school fees and then leave these young ones to grabble in the dark. It’s an abnormality. The implication of this is that a child, in a bid to meet up with the Parents expectations, if wrongly mentored is likely to get involved in such acts as referred to above.
What are the implications of this to the society at large? When wrong people with wrong values are placed in sensitive positions, the society suffers. Have we thought of what a Medical Doctor, who acquired his medical license through unethical means will do to a patient under his care? What of the Civil Engineer who was certified sound, yet through a dubious means constructing a storey building housing human lives. What a gamble indeed. I could go on and on.
Now the way forward is that parents should pay close attention to their children/wards academics, mentoring them in the right direction with a right perspective, thus making them understand that there is “dignity in labour”.
A square peg cannot fit in a round hole, so the way we lay our beds surely will be a determinant factor to how our sleep will be guaranteed. Let’s fight examination malpractices with a strong will to have a better crop of youths who will surely be good leaders of tomorrow. What is worth doing at all, is worth doing well and must be done with an undivided attention.
