The results of the 2014 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSSCE) recently released by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) has further confirmed the dreadful situation of the education sector in the country today. While Nigerians were bemoaning the fate of education owing to what was considered an abysmal performance in the same examination in the past two years, it was shocking that the current results were worse than the low performance of the last two years. The results show that only 529,425 candidates out of the total number of 1,692,435 who sat for the examinations, representing 31.28 per cent, obtained credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics, as against the 38.81 per cent and 36.57 per cent who obtained the same credits in 2012 and 2013 respectively. The results not only show a downward trend in the rate of passes, but also highlight the alarming decline in performance in school certificate examinations in spite of the celebration of massive achievements in education by the various governments in Nigeria. What the current embarrassing results portray and tell all observers is that those who have been celebrating have not only been deceiving Nigerians; they have also been deceiving themselves and have to live with the shameful reality of celebrating in the midst of depressing results. This is because the downward trend and the current woeful performance are all outgrowths of lack of commitment and adequate attention to the cause of education by all the governments in the country.
It is significant that the little success in the current results were said to have come mainly from private schools, suggesting that the main focus of arresting this negative trend and positively turning it around, would have to be the public schools under the various governments in Nigeria. And it must be said that the problems and challenges facing the public schools and the entire education sector are many and multifarious, requiring action from all stakeholders. In a way, it would look like the education sector is gradually collapsing as the failure in the SSSCE would mirror the failure at the primary school level and also provide the platform for failure at the tertiary education level. This would make it important for the problems of the sector to be looked at comprehensively in order to address all the issues involved. For instance, at the policy level, it has been suggested that the constant changes in the curriculum occasioned by the peculiarly Nigerian unstable policy formulation would have contributed significantly to the current decline in passes in examinations. Teachers and students are confronted every time by changes that would not make for proper planning and sequencing of teaching, thus not enabling students to prepare adequately for examinations.
This is apart from the well-known inadequacy of qualified and motivated teachers to take charge of all the students within the system. Some experts have argued that the lack of qualified teachers is so acute that Nigeria would be required to ‘literally train 1,000 teachers everyday’ for the foreseeable future in order to return to normalcy. This definitely is a herculean task and one requiring that all governments in Nigeria make this a priority as there is no way students would be expected to do well without competent and qualified teachers. Associated with this would be the need to also ensure that teachers’ salaries are paid regularly and issues of welfare are addressed in order to ensure that they are motivated to give their best. The current situation in which teachers are treated with disdain and left to fight every time for essentials would only produce the shameful results that Nigeria has had to confront and live with.
The governments would, however, have to do more than work for the production, engagement and remuneration of qualified and competent teachers, given that the physical infrastructure for quality education is non-existent in Nigeria at the moment. It is as if the governments are all unable to cope with the demand for education by Nigerians. There are gross deficiencies in the number of classrooms and other facilities available such that students are in some cases required to sit on bare floors to receive tuition. Teachers also do not have rooms to prepare lesson notes and the whole environment of schools is not only nauseating; it virtually makes proper learning impossible.
Governments at different levels in Nigeria must prioritise education and commit enough resources to provide the needed amenities for proper functioning of the school system. Parents must also do their part in ensuring a conducive environment for continuous learning at home, such that students are not offloaded to schools as if schools are the only learning agency for the children. It must also be said that the country is unwittingly witnessing the backlash of the trend of parents throwing money at the task of adequately catering to the emotional and other needs of their wards, including readiness to buy success for them at examinations. The current shameful results have shown the limitations of such thinking on the part of parents and it would be important for the children to be oriented to proper conduct and the need for hard work from home, if they are to do well in examinations and continue along the line later. All stakeholders must indeed realise that education is the only platform for a good future for the country and the country would be jeopardising its own future if the current trend of declining performance in examinations is not arrested. Nigerians must all rise to the current occasion to address the deficiencies and inefficiencies in the country’s education system in order to give the country a better platform, not only to ensure worthwhile performance in examinations, but to also assure the country of a better future.
