An international education administrator and development expert, Dr. Fortune Wolugbom, has attributed the decline of Nigeria’s education system to the willful neglect of the federal government to invest in education development.
Wolugbom, a Rivers-based educator in the US, who spoke to The Tide in an interview yesterday in Port Harcourt, said such culpable negligence has led to poor training in the education system, and advocated for a policy of educational development to address the declining state of the sector that has stifled economic growth.
He said that the absence of a strategic education development policy that was aimed at preliminary stages of development has obscured the effective and functional formation of the mind of young people, which was a fundamental resource to face the challenges of the future with self-confidence. themselves.
He noted that in countries like Finland, Singapore, Denmark and the US, there were education development policies targeting primary education to scout and groom budding talent for maximum productivity, but he lamented that such strategic vision and innovation was completely lacking. in nigeria.
According to the expert, “Nigeria’s education system is based on experimentation and flagrant inconsistencies in policy formulation and implementation.”
To build a solid foundation for economic development, he recommended an education policy that would combine learning with evolving practical solutions to the country’s unique development challenges.
He also pointed out that to “stir up the sense of public duty, patriotism, business, value orientation and self-sufficiency; we must reserve the elements of quality, consistency, sustainability and standards in our educational system”.
Wolugbom, who criticized the federal government for investing insufficiently in the education sector, said Nigeria should adhere to the United Nations global standards and recommendations for education development, which call for maximum budgetary provision among nations for the development of the sector.
He also called for the proper training and remuneration of teachers as basic incentives and mobilization so that they can perform their duties effectively, noting that teaching is one of the most delicate professions.
He said the Rivers State government, under the leadership of Governor Nyesom Wike, has set the pace for the provision of basic incentives and infrastructure for education development, and urged other states to follow the example of Rivers’ experience. .
By: Taneh Beemene
