An Open Letter to the Ministry of Education from a concerned Citizen
By Ozioma Izuora
I am a trained teacher (PGDE and a Masters in Education of the Exeter University, England).
I know that the Educational Policy of Nigeria under the 6-3-3-4 system envisions that entry age into tertiary institutions is age 18.
Most respectfully Sir, however that is a policy, not a law. No such law can be made in any case, as it would be against the freedom to develop to one’s full capacity, which has been a fundamental right since the UDHR of 1948 and through a plethora of treaties and conventions ratified snd domesticated by Nigeria.
The Ministry may achieve its aim over time by sanitizing the educational system of Nigeria without appearing to apply a knee jerk remedy that is ignorant of the existing policy which has so far been applied in the breach.
The many immature children showing up at 15 in universities currently, is a syndrome resulting from improper testing and evaluations at primary and secondary levels. Hardly does one hear of children repeating classes anymore! institutions are more focused on making money than on rating abilities.
By the way, the proper interpretation of the 6-3-3-4 system is that students can exit formal school at either of the 3-3-4 and move into the world of work…there were technical and vocational educational training in place to enable such movements. That has all crumbled. All that is left now is for garbaging in and out of the universities….some students barely able to write their names!!
People visit cybercafés to get help with articulating CVs, the contents of which they have no comprehension of.
It is a bad idea to pronounce a ban in age of admission to a person who has proof that they have rightfully attained the requirements for proceeding. The problem is simply that the system has been messed up. The children do not have to be made to pay for that.
By the way, emplacing such a ban will only raise the level of corruption in the already messed up system.
People who willingly pay for miracle exam centres will happily indulge in forgery of birth certificates in order to achieve the same end.
My concern, however, is that placing a ban without articulating how to separate the sheep from the goats, will emasculate the GENIUSES among us. What is education if we do not create a nurturing environment to enable the best brains flourish?
The ban is retrogressive in the 21st Century where Nigerian children have been celebrated at home and abroad for obtaining PHDs in their teens.
Please Sir, let’s not do this to our children! Please reverse this ill-advised ban.
Most humbly,
Ozioma Izuora
Izuora an Abuja lawyer and law teacher was a Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Abuja (Unity Bar).
