Why we produce weak students
recently proposed that Nigerian graduates should not be allowed into the labour market as soon as they graduate but should be given a year to earn a skill because of their unemployable qualification. My question is, ‘what have they been doing since primary school? Why should educational institution be less proud in the graduates they produced?’ A joke has been told about a professor that confessed he was certain that the aeroplane produced by his students will not move. Can that joke be applied to our reality? I think we have trust issues here.
As a lecturer, do you trust yourself and what you have taught and also your students application of your passed down knowledge? Then, as a student, do you even trust what your teachers and lecturers teach you and your own application capacity. The truth is, this is a critical matter and to tackle it, we have to look at it in all sense of constructive criticism, devoid of sentiments and oblivious of whose ox is gored.
To begin within, the educational qualification of a graduate should not be judged only by his degree certificate. The success or damage began in the early days of primary and secondary school education; as much as there are exceptions in to this rule. One very trending and disturbing issue is the issue of nonchalant and lackadaisical attitude prevalent among students and teachers. Someone would ask, “what about the government?” the truth is that everyone has a hand in this. The government doesn’t do its bid to improve the system, the teachers align themselves to this and the students are praying and wishing that the situation remains the same as it favours their complacency.
A situation exists in the secondary and primary schools especially the public schools where the government do not pay salaries, do not provide the necessary infrastructures and has very poor supervisory efficiency. There, the teachers (some of which are qualified or underqualified) begin to work in this hopeless situation. They go to school and teach only when they feel like with their fingers pointing accursedly at the government for its wickedness. They encourage examination malpractices as exam periods are seasons to add flesh to their already slimmed down wallets and purses. Due to their already coloured vision, the future of the students become zeroed in their minds. The students on their own are oblivious of vision and future. They live for the moment, some not even understanding the purpose of learning.
Coming down to the parents, we can find a place for them in this decadence. An average Nigerian parent wants his/her ward to pass exams and keep moving higher. However, how they move is of little concern to most parents. In this sense, they will do anything, pay whatever fee just to see their kids pass exams, gain admissions with little concern on the on the personal development of the child.
Then when the student with the aid of these agents has maneuveredss his way into the university, he does not know what ‘sitting down to read’ is, he does not know what hard work is. Luck shines on him on him when his eyes are opened to the university education system and it seems less stressful. He can come to school any day and anytime he chooses, attendance is merely a toothless building, his lecturers are just like him; fishes in the same water, going with the flow. All have a common denominator, giving what they have to get what they want. Hard work is swept to the backyard. Diligence is seen nowhere around the school surroundings. Even in cases where diligence seeks to raise its head, it is knocked down by frustration; frustration from the system, lecturers and other students.
Then the lecturers, they first acquaint the student with the fact that it is a university and what happens is ‘lectures’ not ‘teachings’ (I wonder what the difference is). So the word, ‘lectures’ gives them the leverage to appear twice in a semester; at the beginning with the course outline and before exams to inform them of
As a lecturer, do you trust yourself and what you have taught and also your students application of your passed down knowledge? Then, as a student, do you even trust what your teachers and lecturers teach you and your own application capacity. The truth is, this is a critical matter and to tackle it, we have to look at it in all sense of constructive criticism, devoid of sentiments and oblivious of whose ox is gored.
To begin within, the educational qualification of a graduate should not be judged only by his degree certificate. The success or damage began in the early days of primary and secondary school education; as much as there are exceptions in to this rule. One very trending and disturbing issue is the issue of nonchalant and lackadaisical attitude prevalent among students and teachers. Someone would ask, “what about the government?” the truth is that everyone has a hand in this. The government doesn’t do its bid to improve the system, the teachers align themselves to this and the students are praying and wishing that the situation remains the same as it favours their complacency.
A situation exists in the secondary and primary schools especially the public schools where the government do not pay salaries, do not provide the necessary infrastructures and has very poor supervisory efficiency. There, the teachers (some of which are qualified or underqualified) begin to work in this hopeless situation. They go to school and teach only when they feel like with their fingers pointing accursedly at the government for its wickedness. They encourage examination malpractices as exam periods are seasons to add flesh to their already slimmed down wallets and purses. Due to their already coloured vision, the future of the students become zeroed in their minds. The students on their own are oblivious of vision and future. They live for the moment, some not even understanding the purpose of learning.
Coming down to the parents, we can find a place for them in this decadence. An average Nigerian parent wants his/her ward to pass exams and keep moving higher. However, how they move is of little concern to most parents. In this sense, they will do anything, pay whatever fee just to see their kids pass exams, gain admissions with little concern on the on the personal development of the child.
Then when the student with the aid of these agents has maneuveredss his way into the university, he does not know what ‘sitting down to read’ is, he does not know what hard work is. Luck shines on him on him when his eyes are opened to the university education system and it seems less stressful. He can come to school any day and anytime he chooses, attendance is merely a toothless building, his lecturers are just like him; fishes in the same water, going with the flow. All have a common denominator, giving what they have to get what they want. Hard work is swept to the backyard. Diligence is seen nowhere around the school surroundings. Even in cases where diligence seeks to raise its head, it is knocked down by frustration; frustration from the system, lecturers and other students.
Then the lecturers, they first acquaint the student with the fact that it is a university and what happens is ‘lectures’ not ‘teachings’ (I wonder what the difference is). So the word, ‘lectures’ gives them the leverage to appear twice in a semester; at the beginning with the course outline and before exams to inform them of
this is really inspiring
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