By Joseph Odok|10 August 2015|5:40am
Education remains key in the growth and development of any society. Little wonder the saying that 'education is the backbone of any society'. The only tool that can turn the fortunes of a slave to a king is education.
History is replete with historical
facts that empirically gives foundation to the above facts. At one point, the United States of America was a waste forest land and replete with slaves. It was
at best a plantation and a desert to be inhabited by slaves. However, education has made USA a place to be desired and envied. Through skills and knowledge transfer all tribes of the world have aided the development of USA by huge investment in education and good educational policies.
In the same vein education elevated the fortunes of many slaves to top positions in government, giving
them opportunity to influence lives through enigmatic feats. The likes of Martin Luther King Jr, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowder amongst others confirms the story. Today Africans: a people once considered as subhuman are great drivers of world politics, with Barrack Obama being the first black president of the United States of America. Africans
are competing favorably with the rest of the world in sharing the benefits of education and increasing
in productivity.
In Nigeria the south west through the educational policies of Awolowo are great beneficiaries of the gains of education courtesy of the privileges of education. Comparatively, the south west is low in numerical strength ( in comparison with other tribes like the Igbo and South South) yet one of the leading tribe in banking, democracy, education, trade and
commerce, industry, law, religion, politics, industry etc.
Courtesy of the gains of huge investment in education. In recent times, the Cross River state educational policies appear not to be in the best interest of its teeming youths. There appears no systematically developed policy of education as arbitrariness seems the order of the day. The inconsistencies are noticeable especially in recent years. Some of these arbitrariness includes:
*Lack of a systematic training and evaluation of staff with concentration on buildings and renovation of infrastructure.
*The politicization of scholarship and neglect of the poor. It is worthy of not that state scholarships is
given only to political godfathers and their cronies and the poor completely neglected in most cases.
*The stoppage of mock exams for SSS I I students. Mock exams has been a preparation strategy to
launch student and prepare them for greater performance in WAEC, GCE, NECO, JAMB etc.
*The stoppage of the compulsory JSS III junior mock exams.
*The stoppage of common entrance exams as entry criterion for most public schools.
*The destruction of the continuous assessment criteria of assessment of students through the centralization of exams assessment with the concomitant corruption that had marred the process.
*The continued indebtedness of the state to examination bodies like WAEC etc and concomitant non release of results as at when due.
*A lack of synergy between government and private
sector in raising funds for the funding of education and scholarship.
It is most disappointing that most
politicians are not involved in the process of empowering their constituents through education.
Poor funding of state-owned tertiary institutions and indebtedness to its staff.
The above mentioned problems have been so decapitating that the performance of most student from public schools have been quite discouraging in examinations like WAEC, JAMB, GCE, Post UME
exams, etc. Cross River remains one of the educationally disadvantaged state. Government policies seems to down play the importance of education and thus create systems
that dwarfs the youth and limit their opportunities.
My plea is for the government to give education its prime consideration. A total review of our
educational policies is a clarion call. Investment in education is the surest investment for a better
tomorrow.
