Debasing education value

source: Google

The prevalence of substandard schools in the nation has destroyed the value of education thereby rendering objectives of standard education unaccomplished.

  By: Emegha phebean

Education is a great legacy everyone needs and sought for, whichever learning institutions should strive to give quality education and affect lives of students positively.

Education is a big industry in Nigeria and the world at large, at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels schools are being established on a regular basis.

source: Google

The influx of substandard schools can be traced to the upsurge of private schools at primary and secondary levels starting from 1993 and at tertiary level since the year 2002. Parents send their children to private schools where high fees are charged.

In line with this a critical look at these private schools reveals that while some are standardized institutions, others are substandard. Even among the old government schools some are seen as sub-standard; however there are guidelines expected to be followed in establishing schools. These guidelines are drawn and executed by the federal and state ministries of education to ensure that newly established schools meet required standard. The process of doing this is refereed to as accreditation/approval.

source: Google

Looking critically at the rate of substandard schools in the nation, it is obvious that most of these schools are not government approved or accredited or approved based on self interest of those in charge of thee approval or myopic nature of their being. In most cases there is total lack of conducive learning environment and atmosphere that can protect human dignity and support the full academic, social and emotional development of a child. Some schools are fond of hiring unqualified teachers who may not have the gut to agitate against remuneration that is tantamount to peanuts. credit:sahara reporters Many of these schools are located across nook and crannies of the country. While some of these ramshackle and mushroom schools are cheap to afford, others charge exorbitant fees and gullible Nigerians patronize them to prove their so-called social status in our society. These substandard schools churn out half baked products that are not academically useful in the economy.

Some of the dilapidated secondary schools do not have accreditation from WAEC (West African Examination Council) to enable students write exams and therefore they resolve to merge their students with Government approved Schools to write exams.
Nigerian schools need to be re-awakened. Regulatory bodies should stand up to their responsibilities as this would sanitise the system and bring about desired change and reform in the educational sector.