By Dayo Adesulu
From east to west, north to south, evidence of the deplorable state of our education system seemed very glaring. Just like other sectors, the nation’s education standard has been on a steady decline in the past years.

Both the quality of teaching and infrastructure have been severely affected. As we know, incessant school closures due to strike action have been the norm of the day. In fact, it will be considered unusual not to have schools shut down in any given academic year.

On ASUU strike and NUC reaction in 2010, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie  announced that Universities that have lost up to five months in a session may be barred from admitting students the following year.

Responding to questions at the 2010 Ministerial Score Card presented by the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu  Rufa’i in Abuja, Okojie said NUC was working with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to ensure that sanctions are applied to institutions that are shut down for more than five months.

State-owned universities in the South-East have been shut down since July 22, 2010 due to a strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) .

While defending the establishment of more federal universities,  Ojerinde in 2010 once expressed regret that a candidate who scored 293 marks in the last UTME could not be admitted to read Medicine at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) because the cut-off mark was 310 stressing that 7, 000 candidates applied for the course and the university could only admit 150.

On the N3 billion National Research Fund, the Executive Secretary of the Education Trust Fund (ETF), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said it was to be disbursed for serious research work saying that there are no timelines attached to it and it is to be replenished when exhausted.

Also, last year, the Director, Basic Education in the ministry, Alhaji Garba Bello did  announce the reintroduction of the National Common Entrance Examination which will be conducted in the month of April every year, beginning from 2011.

The minister had briefed stakeholders on the major initiative and achievements of the ministry and its parastatals during the year, saying the one year strategy developed by the ministry had given the sector a better focus.

The focal areas of the Roadmap for the Nigerian Education Sector as pointed out by Ruqayyatu  for this year include,  Access and Equity, Standards and Quality Assurance; Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET), as well as Funding, Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation stressing that teacher education and development will attract attention.

On NECO performance, when the National Examinations Council  released the results of the November/December Senior School Certificate Examinations, 98 per cent of the 234,682 failed to clinch five credits, including English and Mathematics while about 4,223 candidates got five credits, including English and Mathematics.

The 4,223 candidates formed about 1.80 per cent of those that sat for the examinations as  Kogi, Bauchi and Ondo led others states in the list of examination malpractice.

No fewer than 234,682 candidates wrote the examinations out of 245,157 that registered.
A total number of candidates with five credits and above irrespective of subjects was 12,197, representing about 5.2 per cent of those that sat for the examination.

WAEC
Going by the results of the November/December 2010 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) released last year by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), only 20.04 per cent of candidates who sat for that examination were eligible for admission into any institution of higher learning in the country.

The 20.04% represents candidates who obtained credit in English Language, Mathematics and at least three other subjects.
The results of about 51,876 (representing 16.73 per cent) are currently being withheld for various reasons, including alleged involvement in examination malpractices.

Only 42 per cent of students, which represents 677,007 candidates of the 1,351,557 candidates that sat for the May-June 2010 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), obtained five credits and above.

However, about  534,841 candidates obtained six credits and above in the examination, while 337,071 candidates obtained credits in English Language, Mathematics and at least three other subjects.

A total of 77,168 candidates who sat for the May-June 2010 (SSCE) results were withheld owing to alleged involvement of candidates in examination malpractice.

Furthermore, a total of 1,058,806 candidates, representing 78.33 per cent, have two credits and above, 936,470 68.84 per cent) have three credits and above and 806,583 (59.67 per cent) have four credits and above.

“Also, 677,007 candidates obtained five credits and above while 534,841 candidates (39.57 per cent) obtained six credits and above,” he said.

451,187 candidates obtained credit and above in English Language while 560,974 obtained credit and above in mathematics.

Moreover, 98 blind candidates sat for the examination, out of which 13 obtained credits in five subjects, including English language. These special candidates were exempted from taking mathematics and science practicals.

Besides, the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) on Thursday, 30 September 2010, received two giant-size scanners from the United States Agency for International Development ( USAID) as part of their commitment to the development of the Liberia’s education sector.

The equipment which costs more than US$100,000 also got the provision of technical support for maintenance for the equipment for one year.

The scanners are supposed to enhance the work of the Council as they will facilitate the quick release of results. This was part of their promise to put in place all of the mechanisms needed by all educational institutions across the country for better performances.

The focus of organisational development work in SUBEB in 2010 were on:
supporting devolution mechanisms to enable direct funding of schools; strengthening ofthe new M&E unit; and supporting the management of the SSIT by the Department of School Services. Work in relation to the LGEAs will concentrate on work planning, costing their identified activities and presenting their plans to other levels of government and the public.

Moreover, a programme called Training for Classroom Teachers  commenced in October last year, focusing on basic literacy and numeracy, improvements on classroom delivery and effective child centred methodology.

The body also noted that continued head teacher training will link up with the training of SBMCs and will focus on school development planning and managing school finances, in preparation for the disbursement of school operational grants.