BY DAYO ADESULU

THE Principal, Phidel College, Lagos, Mr Ben Akintelure has urged stakeholders in the education sector to place less emphasis on paper qualification and focus more on  skills and talents of students.

He said: “The era of emphasising on paper qualification should have gone by now because there are a lot of people who are talented with skills without the paper qualification.” Akintelure who spoke during a sensitization programme organised for secondary schools students in Lagos said that the statement was not to play down on certificate but to ensure that parents and employers reduced the emphasis they place on certificate at the expense of skills.

“Because we place too much emphasis on certificates, the students are already hypnotised thinking that as long as they are able to pass the theory, skills are not necessary. Supposing we are grading them by their talents, you will see a lot of people showing more interest in other skilful exercises,” he said.

Speaking on the decline in our education system, he heaped the blame on our national policy on education.
He said, “The national policy on education states that some people have to be trained to become teachers. However, because of the unemployment created due to bad governance, a lot of people run into teaching and from day one, they zero their minds on just making ends meet. When such people are employed, they will be busy with newspapers searching for  jobs.”

According to him, in teaching profession, to give the best to students, the time you spend preparing lesson for students should be greater than the one you spend teaching the subject. Akintelure argued that if teachers don’t have  passion for the job, they cannot give time to think and carry out research on a topic. As a teacher, you should ask yourself, do I impart knowledge in grand-style? “

If you don’t have the passion, you won’t go the extra mile, if you don’t go the extra mile, there is no way you can deliver. “Most schools don’t have professional teachers, they just have graduate teachers. Not that the graduates are not good but my argument is that because it is not their field, their mind will not be there.”