20th August, 2014
Yetunde Idowu
Some parents have expressed displeasure over the general poor performance of students in the recently released 2013/2014 West African Examination Council (WAEC) results.
Announcing the release of the results in Lagos recently, the Chief Executive and Head of the National Office of WAEC, Mr. Charles Eguridu said only 31.28 percent of the over 1.7 million candidates that sat for the examination had credits in five subjects, including English and Mathematics compared to the 36.57 percent in 2013 and 38.81 percent in 2012.
Reacting to the results, Mr. Ayotunde Olumide, a Computer Engineer based in Ijegun, Lagos, southwest Nigeria said it is very sad that the standard of education has fallen totally in Nigeria.
“With the results released by WAEC where majority of students failed to make credit in English and Mathematics, do we need any doomsday critic to tell us that the standard of our education has fallen totally,” Olumide said.
He said children of nowadays don’t prepare for examinations any longer. “In fact they don’t read again. They rely on ‘Expo’ to see them through,” he stated.
“It is true that teachers are doing their best. Unfortunately, many students are not serious about their studies. Some teachers are also to blame for this poor performance because they are not pushing the students hard enough to read and pass their examinations. Students have become very lazy and are not reading again,” he lamented.
Another parent, Mr. Divine Smart, a Mechanical Engineer based in Ikotun, Lagos blamed teachers for the poor performance of students, stressing that most of them do not follow the syllabus in teaching students while those who followed the syllabus do not finish it before the students are made to sit for WAEC examinations.
“Teachers in Nigeria contributed to the failure of our children. Many teachers don’t finish the syllabus before the students are made to sit for WAEC examinations. There is no way such students will excel in the examinations. School owners should look into this and sanction teachers who failed to finish the syllabus at the end of the term,” he said.
In his own comment, a 200-Level student of the Lagos State University, Ojo, Olamilekan Adio, called on the authorities to declare a state of emergency in education, stressing that it is the only way the standard of education can improve in the country. “Our educational system is in a state of rot and students cannot excel in this situation,” he stated.
Mrs. Abiodun Adagun, a teacher at Newbreed International School, Ikotun blamed the students and their parents for the mass failure in WAEC. “Students no longer read their books. When you see them they are on their phones playing games or chatting,” she said.
She warned that mass failure of students in Mathematics and English will continue unless students, parents, teachers and government find a lasting solution to the problems facing education in the country.