YOUR centre has been involved in finding long-lasting solutions to learning problems in the Nigerian school system. What would you say is actually wrong with the system?
It has become a general knowledge that Nigerian educational system is faulty from the curriculum to the delivery environment and to the end result. I feel that government needs to introduce educational polices that will overhaul the system to a desired position. In Nigeria and Africa in general, our teaching methodology only helps students to regurgitate; but the modern world has shifted from regurgitation method to giving the students thinking skills education. This is what differentiates education in Africa from that of the advanced countries. It is sad to note that Nigeria or any African country’s system cannot produce think-tank graduates as in advanced counties. This is what is affecting our development and growth.
So, how do you suggest the education system overhaul be done?
The envisaged overhaul process should start from the basic where we mold children to put them in the right direction, and then retrain the teachers in the system. Inadequacy of trained teachers is the bane of quality education. There are many people in the teaching profession that have no business in the system. These kinds of people should be disengaged from the system, and dedicated teachers with passion should be recruited into the system.
What has been the contribution of the centre to the education system reform?
Educational Advancement Centre came into being to bridge the gap between secondary education and tertiary institutions. As at that time, students found it very difficult to gain admission into tertiary institutions. My daughter was a victim.
I sought what it would entail to start a Cambridge Advanced Level centre where we could prepare students for Advanced Level examination. We started with few students and the effort was successful as all of them had the result that qualified them to proceed to 200 level in any university of their choice, home and abroad. Our academic performance in A’ Level became famous and enrolment increased yearly. Today, we have produced thousands of university graduates in various disciplines and most of them finished with First Class honour.
Yet, we didn’t relent; we still thought of how we could reach out to other students especially in the remote areas across the country with our made- simple learning kits. This gave birth to the e-learning education scheme. We did that for a while before we introduced e-learning video module which is more effective. Now, the Oyo State government has subscribed to the programme for the public schools to support the effort of the teachers. The online video school-on- air is the best option for schools that have no qualified teachers for certain subjects. One of the problems of mass failure in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa is inadequacy of experienced teachers. I have seen some individuals who used our video module to prepare for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council, and they did very well in the examination. My security guard was a good example. He is from the North. I noticed that he loves education. I introduced it to him, and today, he is in The Polytechnic Ibadan studying Mass Communication. We can run the video on the handset or Ipad.
How can other states in the country benefit from this scheme?
Our vision is not limited to the South-West. It is an e-learning facility that any state government, individual school or person can access. We are looking for collaborators across the country that will facilitate easy access of the facility to interested people in their area. We have provision for primary school education. If you do not have enough teachers in your school, this programme is made for you. We run 15 subjects based on WAEC and NECO syllabus and curriculum.
What is your advice to school proprietors and states’ ministries of education on mass failure in schools?
We need to address the issue of inadequate experienced teachers in our school system. I believe that retraining of teachers is not the solution. We need to sanitise the system and recruit professional teachers who are passionate about teaching. Passionate teachers will always update themselves to give their best to the profession. The use of School-on-Air video in schools and at home for students is a great complement to school teachers’ efforts.