Quite a myriad of ills are plaguing our educational system, of which corruption and impunity seat on the pew–while other fundamental pathogen rarely make the news. Decades after decades, the preoccupation to salvaging our educational rot hinges much on the dire need to plug loopholes breeding incompetency, mismanagement and corrupt practices in the system which have stunted learning in this corner of the planet. Any brief in favour of leaps and bounds progression achieved by successive governments in terms of raising schooling standard to a peg near academic pendulum of countries outside our shores, may require much effort and strain or worst still the canvasser risks stuttering and eventual gaffe.
The unbridled mass exodus of wards from privileged homes to citadels of knowledge overseas and other handy African nations, for not so silver spooner’s, not only mouths volumes of but also accentuates the pervading fear in the land concerning government inscrutable body language even as the education sector gasp for breathe.
Perhaps, what has eluded pundits and even academic educators is the case with unprofessional persons armed to the teeth with scary but tantalizing certificates, parading as primary and secondary education instructors. For years, our secondary education has been surfeited of inexperienced and half backed teachers in whose custody, the destinies of the multitudes of leaders of tomorrow as chorused everyday lie. This cancerous error grew from strength to strength unattended until a point of near irredeemability, while the world moved on. In as much as government receives the bulk of public opprobrium and displeasure on the high-handedness, amnesty should be granted to these rookie teachers who are themselves offsprings of retrogressive system. A person can not offer what he does not have or in the language of the legal profession, “Nemo dat quod habet”.
The campaign has been consistent from seasoned administrators from various circles that the promising way to get around from this academic doldrums is enhancement of continuous training and retraining of teaching staff, re-strategize manpower for effective delivery and equipping them with prevailing knowledge of science and technology as the world spare no time in rapid globalization and technological strides.
The hope is the potency of re-evaluating archaic methods of knowledge transmission which is no longer in tune with modernity. Students loathe for certain subjects can be actively traced to either the vapid approaches and methodologies or general character infelicity of instructors. Subjects like mathematics and physics have always constituted a sort of nightmare to every student strapped with these course of studies. It follows, that this hard nut crack subjects pray for teachers of vast knowledge and experience laced with human management to handle. The learning interface must be student-centred and friendly unlike environment where pupils are horsewhipped about.
In the light of the foregoing, Universal Basic Education Commission in a robust collaboration with Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) would be said to have been exuberantly performing in some substantial respect by nonstop refresher training for teachers recruited under the umbrella of Federal Teachers Scheme. And this is just a modicum of ocean of educational administrative feats the government of Enugu State steered by Gov. Ugwuanyi through the instrumentality of ENSUBEB pilot, Chief Ikeji Asogwa. It is quite on record that, no fewer than 125 participants (teachers) were successfully conscripted into a 2 year contract period.
There’s no gainsaying the fact that acquiring requisite training would ultimately inform classroom work vigorously and actively, as the Coordinator of the Federal Teachers Scheme in ENSUBEB, Barr. Chinwe Ndubusi heartily expressed her faith over such laudable exercise that the 10- days training outing will prepare them adequately for classroom work and the need to bridge the gap in teaching profession.
Written by
Mrs Bibian Anekwe
SSA to the Governor of Enugu State on mobilization and empowerment
Enugu Di N’akachukwu Movement (DG)
