SLC-S29/W1 – “Thinking and Ideas! | If You Were in Charge!”
Leadership does not just mean being in a position of authority but having the insight and bravery to approach the problems evident and with humility and a loving heart. Given an opportunity to exercise absolute power in my home country, Nigeria, even on a one-year basis, I would consider it a blessing to plant seeds that would make the future of future generations.
Instead of seeking short term popularity, I would aim at establishing long term influence. My key action would be to correct a root issue that affects nearly all other challenges in the country our broken system of public education.
If you were given full authority for one year in your community or country, what is the first issue you would address?
The initial problem I would start with is the reform of public education especially in state-owned primary and secondary schools. The state of public schools in most regions of Nigeria is very poor nowadays. There are classes with broken chairs, broken walls, leakages, and clean water is not available.
In some societies, students continue to sit on the bare floors to study, and educators grapple with old books with inefficient working conditions. Such circumstances complicate the learning process and demoralize students and teachers.
National development is anchored on education. Poor education exposes these children to lives of low skills, poor confidence and low opportunities. This leads to a vicious circle of poverty, unemployment and social problems which are passed on one generation to the other.
Reforming the state education would therefore not only make schools better, but also contribute to reforming families, communities, and the entire country.
Why did you choose this issue over others?
I have turned to the education, rather than other burning problems like unemployment, fuel price, electricity or road construction, since an educational institution is a starting block where long term solutions can sprout. A country can mend roads or construct factories, but unless the country has educated people, the same would not be well maintained.
Lack of knowledge and critical thinking skills makes people readily fall into corruption, crime and misinformation. Through education, individuals are able to think clearly, make informed choices, and be useful members of the society. It makes responsible leaders, skilled workers and innovative entrepreneurs. In case the education system in Nigeria is tightened, the nation will automatically start experiencing positive changes in governance, economic growth, health awareness, and social stability.
Essentially, education is not simply capable of solving a single issue, it is correcting numerous issues in a gradual manner.
What is that one difficult decision you would have to make?
The hardest choice I would have to make is a temporary closure of the severely failing public schools (after three months) to reconstruct them in a proper manner. The teachers would be subjected to mandatory retraining and re-certification and corrupt school administrators would be evicted, learning materials revised, and school facilities refurbished.
This would not come easy since parents would be concerned about their children education being cut off and some of the teachers would not be willing to change.
Nevertheless, letting children learn under broken systems is more harmful than letting them have a brief break to improve significantly.
The short-term shutdown would enable the government to address the structural issues that they have always had and to restart the standards of education in the country. This would be a worthwhile sacrifice to create improved results in the future.
How would you explain this decision to people who disagree with you?
I would clarify this decision to the people in an open and respectful manner. I would explain to them that the temporary closure is not an attempt to punish students or teachers, rather it is an attempt to put up a stronger education system to everyone. I would offer facts that demonstrate the impact of poor conditions in schools on the learning outcomes and long term development.
I would also assure the parents that learning would not come to a full stop in this period. Creations of community reading centers would be done, educational radio and television programs would be broadcast, and free learning resources would be provided. During training, the teachers would still be getting their salaries.
In so doing, they would realize that the move is motivated by concern over the future of children and not the political agenda.
My Practical Education Plan
In a span of a year, I would carry out a National School Renovation Drive to make sure that every public school has safe classes, clean toilets, uninterrupted water supply, good furnishments, and new educational resources. This would provide a conducive learning environment that the students will learn in a comfortable and confident environment.
Teacher welfare that would I would reform, would include better pay, housing allowances, ongoing professional training and performance incentives. Once teachers feel appreciated, encouraged and trained well, they do their job better and encourage students.
In addition, I would implement a progressive digital curriculum model which incorporates the use of tablets, smart boards, and offline digital libraries, particularly in the rural locations. To ensure accountability and transparency, parents would be included in the process by having community monitoring committees. School feeding programs would be increased too to promote attendance and make the school dropout rates to lower.
Conclusion
Given a one year tenure as a leader, I would want to create the future instead of pursuing short-term applause. Reformation of education does not bring immediate outcomes, yet it makes generations. By acquiring quality education, children make a stronger family, safer communities and most stable nations.
The Nigeria of tomorrow cannot be constructed using poor classrooms. Our schools are making the future of the nation every day. Given the chance, I would spend that one year in planting seeds that would become a better Nigeria in the future.
I invite @josepha, @stef1 and @mikitaly to drop a very constructive comments on this post and also to participate in this contest.
Hi @adese, welcome to thinking and ideas week 1
The failing public schools are becoming so much and no one cares about the pupils and students well being.
Most public schools in my country has been abandoned and neglected. It is with sadness that I see the real education system failing to a point of no repair.