An educationist, Dr. Joel Akowe, has advocated a total overhaul of Nigeria’s education sector, with emphasis on the beneficiaries being able to use his brain and hand.
Dr. Alokwe, who is a lecturer at the Kogi State Polytechnic, spoke today, October 30, as a Guest Speaker at the Graduation and Prize Giving ceremony of Baptist High School, Lokoja, on Saturday.
The lecturer insisted on what he called a “deliberate surgery” on the education sector for optimal performance.
According to him, the move is to entrench an educational system that places emphasis on the use of “brain and hand” for self-reliance.
Dr. Alokwe said that with self-reliance in place as the cardinal principle of Nigeria’s current educational system, there would be a set of activities geared towards self-discovery and its application.
He said that the need for faith-based educational institutions to set the pace in moral and functional education has become imperative to pull Nigeria out of the “disarticulated colonial educational system of literacy and numeracy.”
He advised the management of Faith-Based Educational Institutions to expose their students to the knowledge and fear of God through regular teaching and admonitions, and to ensure employment of qualified teachers.
He noted that the purpose of secondary education in Nigeria, as enunciated in the National Policy on Education (1988), is to produce and inspire the students with a desire for self-improvement and achieving excellence.
He added that the inability of the country to attain lofty goals has also resulted in cultism, examination malpractice, sexual abuse, unemployment, among others.
According to him, to reverse the negative trends in the educational sector, mission schools are expected to redefine their roles within the context of scriptures, to serve as the light of the world to others.
The Proprietor of the school, Rev. Theophilus Ajala, said the school would soon commence IJMB (Interim Joint Matriculation Board), programme, as another one of its contributions to the educational development of Kogi.
Ajala expressed satisfaction with the brilliant performance of the students, and urged them to not only sustain the feat, but increase the tempo.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that one of the highlights of the event was the launch of a play titled; “Joseph’s Wedding”, by Miss Beauty, a junior student of the school.
Source: NAN.
