You might be doing research or just looking to solve problems around Nigeria's educational system. Here are the major challenges to education in Nigeria.
Over the years, education has been one of the prerequisites to attaining certain heights in society. Heights like Qualifying for promotion in your office, promotion in civil service, or even in professional fields too.
Take the medical field, for instance, not just anyhow doctors can attend to serious surgical cases. You need a lot of knowledge to not risk the patient's life.
True though that you can't rate success by the amount of education you attain, but you need to at least be literate. Education helps you to take the necessary steps you need to survive in society.
Ever wondered if you weren't taught how to make simple additions and subtraction of numbers, your business would probably have crashed. people would cheat on you without you even knowing. How about you weren't taught hygiene, you would have been known with a particular hospital by now.
The blessings of education can't be overemphasized. however, not everyone has access to Good Education in Nigeria (emphasis on Good). There are various challenges to good education.
Challenges of education
Poor Building Infrastructure
Take a good look at the government school close to you, and check out the buildings, it's nothing to write home about, right? These kids get drenched during rainy seasons due to leaking roofs.
How about the scorching sun they learn under especially those in the northern areas, imagine the headaches they get trying to study and understand Mathematics. This doesn't encourage good learning.
Unavailability of teaching/ Laboratory equipment
Some subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Agriculture are made up of theories and practicals. The practical parts are neglected because the equipment is not available. A chemistry lab is jam-packed with dirt and buckets instead of laboratory equipment like the Bunsen Burner, Clamp, necessary salts, and chemicals.
The same applies to the other subjects. The students end up just passing the exams than assimilating the subjects.
Even in tertiary institutions, these students just learn a lot of theories neglecting the practical aspects. This is why some doctors during operations forget one instrument in the patient's body due to a lack of practical experience.
ASUU Strike:
ASUU known as The Academic Staff Union of Universities is currently on strike at the moment. The constant strikes that happen in Federal Universities often discourage students to continue learning.
You hear things like Students dropping out of the university either diverting to business, or fashion, or even females forced into marriage. This is one of the major challenges in tertiary institutions and it has resulted in a lot of fallbacks in the educational system.
Lack of Competency in teachers
Not up to 10% out of 100 schools have competent teachers. You see cases like an Agriculturist handling Chemistry, or even an English teacher handling sciences. Even in your school, there are always one or more teachers who every student can't understand due to the teacher's incompetency.
How do such teachers or even schools tend to impact knowledge in the life of the students?
Insurgency and terrorism
With the recent bomb blast in a school in Kano state, no parent in that area would feel safe leaving their kids to go to school. The educational chapter of kids in that area has been halted for a while.
It'll take a lot of courage to take them back to school again. This has a great impact on education in Nigeria. Now, what happens to the future of tomorrow if they're not educated?
There are many other challenges to education in the country and if these challenges aren't rectified, what happens to the next generation to come?