“The lecturers in higher institutions are not in to impact on the new generation, they only came to make money from this new generation. Yes, I know it is not all of them but most of them. These lecturers will bring rules like if you do not buy their textbook you will not have continuous assessment nor will you be allowed to write tests. That is very annoying and unfair.
By: Fatoyinbo Aminat
As Nigeria marks her 61st independence anniversary, students in the Nigeria higher institutions have expressed their displeasure on the level of education in the country. They also provided solutions they believe government at all levels should do to make Nigeria’s educational system compete with the western world. Fatoyinbo Aminat writes
Okafor Emmanuel Abuchi, a Mass Communication student of Lagos State Polytechnic said most higher institutions in Nigeria lack adequate facilities to impact knowledge.
Emmanuel further said lecturers have failed to improve themselves, adding that some of them instill fear in students, making them become scared and lack the freedom to express themselves in class.
“Most schools do not have adequate facilities to impact on the students. You go to school libraries and you can count the number of books there. The ICT room doesn’t have enough computers to use for lectures. The science laboratories and studios do not have enough in them.
“The lecturers in higher institutions are not in to impact on the new generation, they only came to make money from this new generation. Yes, I know it is not all of them but most of them. These lecturers will bring rules like if you do not buy their textbook you will not have continuous assessment nor will you be allowed to write tests. That is very annoying and unfair.
“Then again you will see some lecturers who will just come to class and read notes to you and then leave. He does not teach, he does not even want to know if you understood anything and when you complain he will tell you, this is a higher institution we do not teach here, you are not kids anymore. Some lecturers will instill fear in you by threatening you. Some will tell you that you will fail his course with so much assurance. This makes students become scared and lack the freedom to express themselves in class,” he added.
Olabode Ifeoluwa Gladys (Not real name), a 300 level student of Mass Communication, Lagos State University said she thinks we are trying too hard to emulate and attain the standard of foreign countries and its draining.
“The lecturers and schools authorities aren’t being considerate thereby making it hard for the students. Same as the secondary school level and the UTME exams, why can’t a UTME result be used for a maximum of three or four years? Is it due to the profits the boards make from it?
“For quality education, one can not trust government primary school except you can afford a private school for your kid.
“This all comes down to government not playing their roles well, no provision of good facilities for quality education, no stable environment to grow up in. All of which can lead to instability in learning. If there’s no proper foundation how’s the country meant to move forward?” She added.
Solutions
An HND 2 Architectural student from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Kazeem Yusuf stated that the government should recognise and prioritise the need for skill-based education over theory especially in Nigeria due to the level at which unemployment rate in the country.
“Regularizing this skill-based education will to some extent eradicate the great fear in the minds of students who are already seeing school as a scam when there is no sure guarantee of employment after graduation,” he said.
He stressed that if every criterion for quality education is well met, then it is only natural that our level of education will soar into new levels “because Nigerians are gifted.”
Balogun Ademola Oluwadamilare, a Computer Science student from Yaba College of Technology explained that the educational system of the country has been on the decline and the rate at which this is happening is so alarming.
“The government need to look into the lecturers employed and majorly the school curriculum.
“The lecturers are so outdated and they are not ready to learn and it’s affecting the students in so many ways. Imagine teaching the Computer Science students COBOL that was last used in the year 1991, PASCAL and QBASIC where in other countries what they teach are new developments. We have Java, python, Data science, to mention but a few.
“We need to emulate this trend to bring out the best in students before we are left redundant in the society,” he concluded.
Uyi Itua, an Environmental Management and Toxicology student of the Federal University of Abeokuta said the education system in Nigeria should be more practical based than theory.
“Most students only nod their heads to all that is being done in class without proper understanding of the topics but with practice, they can see with their eyes what the topic at hand entails thereby increasing fast and easy assimilation which also reduces the general ” la cram la pour” students do in exams,” Uti explained.
She, however, appealed to the government to provide adequate modern facilities, as well as replacing the outdated ones to give students an in-depth understanding of what they are been taught.
Another student from the Federal University of Abeokuta, Rafiu Razaq Olaoluwa, a 300 level student of Agricultural Engineering said the Nigerian government should address the issue of insecurity as it has been rampant for some years and had claimed the lives of many Nigeria citizens as well as students by deploying securities forces and they should perform their job.
“In a country like Nigeria where there is no security, students are mostly scared of unforeseen incidents that could lead to loss of lives and many more. With this fear in mind, there is nothing that can be assimilated by such student,” he said.
He added that the unending ASUU strikes should be eradicated as it has affected a lot of students by increasing their school year and make them lose interest in schooling among others.
Lawal kofoworola, a 300 level student of Environmental Toxicology and management, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, appealed that the tuition fees for higher institutions should be made affordable even for the commoners.
“With easy access to education, the students fending for themselves will not feel too burdened with their personal,” she explained.
To wrap it all, the students have expressed their opinion and what needs to be done by the government to have a conducive learning environment.
Fatoyinbo Aminat Adebola is a student of Mass Communication at Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH). She’s a Reporter at The Elites Watch with areas of interest – Education, Entertainment, Business, and other matters of general interest and importance.
She currently writes for The Nation Newspaper under the CampusLife section of the Media House.
2 Comments
This is commendable for a start. The writer did justice by talking ti different students from different Institutions.
I hope the government can read this and see what the Students complaint and suggestions.
This is commendable for a start. The writer did justice by talking to different students from different Institutions. I hope the government can see what the students are complaining about and their suggestions.