Dropouts are symptoms of weak secondary education —Don

A don at the Department of Educational Management of the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Dr Ademola Ibukunolu Atanda has said high cases of dropouts are symptoms of weak secondary education.

The don made this submission while delivering the 17th faculty lecture of the department entitled “Strengthening the Schooling Bridge: Nigerian Secondary Education for Structural Reinforcement,” last Wednesday at the large Lecture Theatre of the Faculty of Education.

Dr Atanda noted that “though secondary education is a bridge that connects primary education to technical colleges, pieces of evidence abound that this linking bridge, that is, secondary education, is weak and fragile, thereby resulting in unforeseen educational and social challenges.”

He identified such challenges as dropout, hooliganism, criminality, and the problem of transition to technical colleges, polytechnics, universities and unemployment, which he said should be tackled by the education stakeholders, including government.

While identifying shortage of qualified teachers and unnecessary overloading as being one of the effects of the weak bridge in secondary education, Dr Atanda observed that existing teachers are saddled with high workload in terms of periods of teaching and subjects being taught.

He therefore, advised that this trend should be urgently checked as it might lead to other problems of non-coverage of syllabi, low-quality teaching, and even stress which she noted could result in health challenges, and thus putting the students’ academic performance at risk.

“In essence, tertiary education will always be at the mercy of secondary education for its intakes. Its quality will invariably determine the kind of quality of inputs into polytechnics, colleges of education, and universities. Therefore, the strengthening, reinforcement and fortification of this linking bridge should be the concern of all and sundry,” Atanda said.

The faculty lecture attracted academics and dignitaries such as the vice chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Adebola Ekanola, represented by the dean, Faculty of Education, Professor Andrew O. Fadoju; Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Olasunkanmi  Olaleye, represented by Remi Ajayi; ex-dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, Professor J. B Babalola; heads of departments of the Faculty of Education as well as other professors of the faculty.

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