State of Modern Education in Nigeria

Education is an ever evolving system, taking cues from past success to help educate future generations. With so many different views and influences contributing to modern education standards, it can be easy to lose the sight of where education should go and what it should be achieving. Education is thought to benefit more than the individual, it contributes to society’s structure, and with this in mind does this apply to modern day Nigeria? Education today in Nigeria is no longer the most important and influential institution in the society. The previous belief that educational system is sole built to produce a meritocracy where individual promise is acknowledged and developed through academic achievement is now a mirage. Our modern society is one that is globalised and is based on information and innovation, and they, in turn are highly knowledge intensive. Education’s role in modern society is of great importance, the quality rather than the quantity should be the governments’ focus. However, in many developing countries the policy makers are opportunists and barely literate. There has been much emphasis placed on the building of universities. The education of citizens is low on the list of priorities. The most basic educational aids such as books and facilities are generally of low quality and in many cases lacking. In the modern society stable jobs with predictable careers are disappearing. They are being replaced by “flexible labour”. Nigeria needs more or less radical reforms, and there should be support for curriculum development and experiment. We all need to come together and figure out how we can change students’ minds and make them want to learn. The problems of teaching, the recruitment to, and the attitudes toward education in Nigeria are deeply embedded in a wider social context and are not amenable to easy one-off solutions