By Francis Sadhere
The proprietor of Ejiro Schools in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr. Ejiro Ohimor has berated the Federal Government for the fallen standard of education in the country, saying it has not done much to improve the quality of education in the country.
The Education expert who has established Ejiro Schools for over three decades ago, told our correspondent in an interview at his school that government’s inability to tackle corruption has been a major reason why standard of education is at its lowest in the country.
Ohimor further said that just as every facet of our society is tinted with corruption, so also is education affected by corruption, noting that unless corruption is dealt with, the quality of eduction in the country will continue to plummet.
While noting that education is part and parcel of any developing and developed society in the world, Ohimor tasked the incoming government of President Mohammadu Buhari to sanitize the education sector by appointing the right people to man the education sector.
He said another reason why standard of education is falling was because successive governments keep changing the curriculum to suit their administration, adding that none of the policies of government on education has a set target.
Ohimor, who is also a former chairman of the Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON), Delta Branch, called on the government to lay more emphasis on technical education for all school children, lamenting that no Junior School student in any of the public schools in the country can boast of any technical knowledge.
On exam malpractices prevalent in our schools, Ohimor stressed that unless government puts its foot down hard and prosecute offenders and jail them to serve as deterrent to others, the issue will still continue to linger.
“I see the effect of exam malpractices everyday. I see teachers who can’t teach. I see graduates who cannot stand for themselves, and I will not be part of this. We need to train our teachers so that they can give out good stuff. I am sorry to say, but the teachers that we have these days are nothing to write home about. Its garbage in, garbage out. When students pay money to write WAEC, JAMB, and bribe lecturers to pass exams, what do you expect to get? I see lawyers today who cannot even speak good English. How they manage to finish law school I don’t know. Exam malpractices just like corruption will only change when the society changes,” Ohimor said.
While advocating for free and qualitative education for every Nigerian child, Ohimor said an educated society is better than any riches in the world.
He also called on government to see private schools as partners, stressing that it should flush out mushroom private schools from the society by imposing stiffer sanctions for offenders and by appointing people with integrity to man the education sector.
