THE concern of the House of Representatives over the embarrassing and growing culture of mass failure recorded by candidates in the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) is understandable. Worried by the trend, the lower house legislators decided to investigate the malaise.But the plan is a step in the wrong direction, unless it is aimed at proffering workable solutions to the problem. An investigative intervention can hardly serve any useful purpose without a drastic improvement in educational facilities. There is nothing to gain by merely debating and lamenting the successive failures without a corresponding action to change the present abhorrent state of the schools.Nothing also is gained by the Representatives pretending to be unaware of the monstrous decline in public education system in the country as a result of years of neglect. That serious damage has been done to the school system is not in doubt. Sadly, government does not seem ready to revamp it, partly because those saddled with the responsibility can afford expensive private schools in and outside the country. The state of our educational institutions is indeed appalling, manifesting in dilapidated infrastructure, lack of teaching and learning facilities, poor teacher motivation and abysmal funding, among others.Rather than dissipate precious time and energy into what is obvious, the lawmakers should seek direct intervention to save the school system; and to infuse sanity and quality in the system. The major concern should be how to restore the lost glory of the schools in terms of improved teaching and learning environment.How do we motivate teachers and make the teaching profession attractive to the best brains' What should be done to generate more funding for education'The Representatives' proposal to investigate the examination mass failure followed their adoption of a motion on the need to review and realign secondary school curricula in order to checkmate mass failure in examinations.According to the member who presented the motion, the change from the 6-3-3-4 system to the 9-3-4 system without proper alignment of curricula has engendered the mass failure by students in public examinations as witnessed in recent years. The legislator believes that 'reviewing and realigning our secondary school curricula will definitely enrich our educational system and to that extent guard against mass failures in examinations'. He warned that if the situation is not checked, the mass failure will continue, thereby portraying the country in bad light.There is clearly a need to save the country's image and future, but care must be taken against a hasty or incorrect conclusion that the problem has to do with the educational system in operation. Nigeria, after all, is not the only country operating either of the systems in Africa. Rather, Nigeria is perhaps the only country that frequently changes her educational system without first thinking through the implications.For example, the country adopted the 6-3-3-4 system, which requires in-depth and versatile technical component, without a corresponding commitment to provide the introductory technology laboratories and equipment that would equip graduates of the junior secondary school. If the system failed, it was because government failed to fund it and provide the environment conducive for learning, including training the right calibre of teachers.That situation is probably worse now. There are still not enough trained teachers. According to a recent United Nations report, Nigeria is among the countries that need to increase the teaching workforce by almost seven percent yearly until 2015 in order to achieve the goal of universal primary education by that year. That would require serious commitment on the part of government at all levels.The issue of teachers is central to any educational improvement policy. There should be continuous training of teachers to improve their standard. Government's plan to train 3,500 teachers, which was disclosed recently, should be pursued and the number increased. The teachers should be properly motivated. A situation whereby many state governments are reluctant to adopt the much talked about Teachers Salary Scale (TSS) is inimical to the realisation of a good education objective, unless government can provide a viable alternative.Schools should be well-equipped, starting from rehabilitation of dilapidated infrastructure. This should be sustained, as the blight in the educational system is a direct offshoot of government persistent neglect of the sector. There is also need to improve schools' hygiene and make the learning environment friendlier. Little could be learned in an unhygienic and unconducive environment as we have in many schools today.The inspectorate division needs to be resuscitated and made more proactive. It is high time education is made a priority and the culture of policy inconsistency stopped.
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