In Nigeria, education has been a sector faced with many challenges since its inception in the mid-nineteenth century by the Christian missionaries.
Some of the problems facing education are:-there are no adequate learning facilities that will aid effective learning and understanding by the students in many primary and secondary schools, lack of qualified teachers to impart the required knowledge and skill to the students are not in place as some of the teachers do not possess the required training for them to teach a child, and for those who have the training, the salary given to them is not encouraging and this leads to another problem of unavailability and instability of teachers as and when they ought to be in the class, this can be that the teacher has gone out for a business outside and therefore not available to teach the students. With this happening, what will become of the students?Another problem is the cost of education, this has discouraged many parents especially those in the rural areas- where not all the primary and secondary schools are free and those who are free are already filled up with students- to send their children to school because they cannot afford the fees, so these children become street hawkers, and beggars, these can lead to many other vices in the society. Ignorance on the part of parents and guardians especially the illiterate and carefree who do not value the importance of education, is also a problem facing education.
On the part of government and examination body’s, there is the problem of inadequate funding to the various levels of education, responsibility and control as to which aspect of government is responsible to the different levels of education, politicization of education, indiscipline among teachers, students, schools and examination body’s especially during examinations, the attitude or behaviors of some teachers in class are part of the problems/challenges of education in Nigeria.
With all these problems highlighted, what can be done to solve them?
Adequate teaching/learning facilities are to be put in place to aid easy learning, such as instructional materials, audio visuals, well equipped laboratories and other facilities that will help or assist learning be put in place.
On the part of the teachers, adequate training, retraining and self-on- the- job development will help teachers to be current with the recent development in education and to give their best to the students.
The government particularly the educational sector needs to set a standard curriculum and a well defined practicable system that must be followed by the schools.
Also, the government needs to make primary and secondary education in Nigeria free for all and ensure a subsidized amount for private schools.
Recruitment of teachers should be based on the qualification and training acquired, not through nepotism, bribery and favoritism.
However, proper governance of Schools both government and private owned would help tackle the challenge of education in Nigeria.
Adequate budgetary provision to fund the educational sector will help reduce the problem of lack of infrastructure, teaching aids, instruction materials and the likes.
Moreover, Discipline is required from students, teachers, school authorities and examination body especially when conducting exams.
Provision of child and teacher friendly school environment would bring about efficiency and effectiveness in teachers and students.
Moreso, admission of students into schools should be based on merit and not on political, economic or social grounds.
Special salary, allowances, economic benefits should be granted to teachers to encourage and make them committed to the job thereby giving the best.
Let not forget that you and I have a role to play to overcome the challenges of education in Nigeria; so play your role.
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