A big dismal failure was recorded on results released for the May/June 2014 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The examination conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) became a testament that something was absolutely amiss with educational system in Nigeria and West Africa sub-region.
While a total of 1, 705, 976 prospective candidates registered, it was only 1, 692, 435 candidates that successfully sat for the examination, but the results were not encouraging or worth writing home about. It was depressing, regressing and unchallenging development.
For the 31.2 per cent of about 529, 425, 000 candidates “recorded credit passes in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, as against 36.57 per cent in 2013 and 38.81 per cent in 2012. A further breakdown of the current result reveals that 791, 227 candidates, representing 46.75 per cent, obtained six credits and above while 982,472 candidates representing 58.05 per cent, obtained five credits and above,” as was documented by Guardian News.
While “1, 148, 262 candidates, representing 67.84 per cent, obtained credits and above in four subjects; 1, 293, 389 candidates, representing 76.42 per cent, obtained credits and above in three subjects; while 1,426,926 candidates, representing 84.31 per cent obtained credits and above in two subjects.”
The issue of the failure of the students to triumph cannot only be attributed to the faults of the students to perform at optimum standard.
And this does not imply that the students will abscond and abstain from their responsibilities of hard work. But the time has come to try something new and bring the WASSCE curriculum to 21st century. In the dawn of 21st century the British prototype educational curriculum that is based mostly on theory is outdated.
Although that examination is best method to quantify outcomes, but heavy dependence on examination as a bellwether for determination of successful outcome is overrated. Nigeria’s educational system must encourage and furnish a sustainable knowledge based outcome. A comprehensive educational outcome that makes the graduating student an effective member of our society and efficient global citizen is necessary in 21st century.
The weakness of the educational system may not arouse the interest of the students to perform at a higher level. The curriculum must be captivating and meaningful to the lives of the students. The loading of the current curriculum with colonial based abstract theories weakens the curiosity of the students and dampens their creative propensity.
WASSCE curriculum must be practicalzed by making it pragmatic, scientific and invaluable, thereby making it more attractive to the students’ intellectualism. The educational curriculum must be geared towards producing a work force that can compete with rest of the world, ushering higher reasoning and promoting innovations. Innovation is the threshold of high technology, progressive and scientific society. An innovative curriculum does propel students to find ways and methodology to solve pressing societal problems.
The graduated students even from secondary schools can create and discover scientific laws and ideas that can help to solve some of Nigerian problems in electricity, agriculture and housing. Students can be encouraged to unleash their creative juice and not to wait until they are older or acquire advance degrees. An innovation curriculum can transform the minds of students and gear them toward a positive orientated society.
While passing English language is important, a high degree of importance and emphasis must be laid on mathematics and science subjects including computer science, physics, chemistry and biology. To build a high technology society and provide the jobs to our youths, we must teach how to be pro-active, achieving high reasoning clarity and ability to apply oneself in the knowledge and information based economy.
Nigeria must produce its Bill Gates, Steven Jobs and more Dangotes; and a well-grounded educational system is the foundation for a true giant of Africa.
Emeka Chiakwelu, Principal Policy Strategist at AFRIPOL. His works have appeared in Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Forbes and many other important journals around the world. His writings have also been cited in many economic books, publications and many institutions of higher learning including tagteam Harvard Education. Africa Political & Economic Strategic Center (AFRIPOL) is foremost a public policy center whose fundamental objective is to broaden the parameters of public policy debates in Africa. To advocate, promote and encourage free enterprise, democracy, sustainable green environment, human rights, conflict resolutions, transparency and probity in Africa. info@afripol.org www.afripol.org