Nigeria can’t achieve education goal by 2015 – Educationist

The Proprietor, Sound Hope Nursery, Primary and Secondary School, Mrs Fatmo Monayajo, has doubted Nigeria’s ability to achieve the education goals  of the millennium Development Goals by 2015.

 

The United Nations has set 2015 for member-countries (including Nigeria) to attain the Millennium Development Goals of providing education for all by 2015.

The goals included- to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve, promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality rates; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development.

But, the educationist during a media tour to the school on Tuesday said it would take the country few years beyond 2015 to achieve the MDG, goals in education.

She said, “It is not possible to meet the target of 2015 to standardise our education. Developing the Nigerian educational system will take longer time. 2015 is too soon because it is easy to spoil something but not easy to build. Let’s be realistic, I don’t think we can achieve the 2015 target.

“We all know that presently with what we have, the standard is not what  used to be. It is falling and has deeply gone down. We can no longer be proud of our graduates like before. It is painful that some graduates cannot even teach  primary and secondary school pupils.”

Monayajo, who attributed the failure of the country’s educational system to bad leadership, stressed that the society had also lost its value.

She added, “Our fall in the standard of education has more to do with leadership. The problem started somehow in the past. But, generally during the military era.

The Idiagbon/Buhari regime tried to make some corrections before the coup,  after that, deterioration began in our educational system, now it is at its peak.

“Apart from leadership challenges, the society has lost its value. We have lost our value as a nation. In those days, the family plays a very important role in maintaining honesty and integrity but that is no longer in place.”

The principal of the school, Mr. Rafiu Afolabi, said that it was necessary for government to provide facilities in schools and train teachers.

“Government must provide the needed facilities that can cater for the number of pupils in the schools. The population of pupils should not exceed the facilities on ground. There is need for adequate facilities to add value to the performance of the children,” he said.

CULLED FROM: PUNCH NEWSPAPERS

January 18, 2013 by Sodiq Oyeleke

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Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE

Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner