I penned this down, two years ago.
And I have decided to use it to celebrate and reflect on, in this year Children’s Day.
Please, read with deep intent and forget the writer’s grammer.
Happy Children’s Day to all Children over the world.
The Dearth of Character in the Nigerian Education Sector.
“Daddy, cheating was rampant and unchecked. Pls call ReroTv and AriseTv to investigate the colluding of some teachers aiding some unprepared pupils”
Those were the words of my daughter who took part in today’s Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination which held in primary schools across Delta state.
It saddened my spirit to hear of the high level of examination malpractice that has bedeviled even the primary schools in Nigeria. Growing up as young pupils we were taught and encouraged to be self dependent when taking examination but it appears everything has been eroded nowadays. The crave for unmerited success, wealth and other social vices has destroyed every aspect of our national life.
Why put your children in expensive private schools and yet still indulge in manipulative ventures around their academics. I think it’s a total waste of time and resources. The family unit plays an important role in nation building. We all complain of malgovernance, societal decay, youth restivenes, kidnapping, armed robbery yahoo yahoo and the likes. No one wants his or her child/ren to be a societal nuisance yet we continue to do things that are inimical to our child/ren’s overall development and personality formulation.
I am also worried with the level of indiscipline and moral decadence among teachers in our schools. The crave for needless wealth and social classing is terribly destroying our value system. We can’t get the best of medical doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, craftsmen, accountants, politicians (leaders) in both public and private sectors if we continue in this trajectory.
The new norm now is the japa syndrome. My question for indulging parents is how will your wards fit into a working system with magogo foundation? When your support for examination malpractice has killed their self-esteem.
Nations are built by it’s citizens and our children are critical elements in the Nigerian project, hence we must not destroy them from the cradle rather encourage them to be disciplined, self reliant and independent in their studies.
We just have to turn a new leaf if we MUST make progress as a people.
~ Lucky Ighoyota
20/05/2023
Sapele, Delta state
