Re:Drilling accountability into education

My friend Auwal Sani Anwar was honoured 2weeks ago by Malam Nasir el Rufai to write in his Friday column on Thisday newspaper on any topic of national importance.As a lecturer,Auwal couldn't have choosen any other topic than education knowing fully the decay in the system and he wrote a piece titled :"Drilling accountability into education". Auwal Sani Anwar is one of the prolific writers among our generation of young Nigerians.I know Auwal since our secondary school days in Kano.We were privilaged to attend one of the best secondary schools in the then Kano state and we finished the same year.We met several times through interactions between Science Secondary School Dawakin Kudu and Science Secondary School Tawakin Tofa in form of debates and quiz computations.I remember a journey we made in the same vehicle from Kano to Zaria in 1991 to participate in a quiz competitions organized by Kano science schools old students Association ABU Zaria branch.He was among the participants from Dawakin Tofa together with people like Aminu Magashi,Nasir Alhassan Kabo and Mahmud Abdulwahab,while I was among the ones selected to represent Dawakin Kudu.I later met him again in ABU zaria as undergraduates and was a known personality in our hostel then at ABU teaching hospital because incidently his wife was also a medical student then. No doubt,the decay in Nigeria's education sector has reached a dismal level.When my wife was teaching in a secondary school in Kano,she used to quarrel with the principal and other staff who insist on "helping" the students with answers.During examination days,a teacher for a particular subject is suppose to answer the questions and write the answers for the students to copy.That is why the students can no longer depend the result scored during WAEC,JAMB and NECO examinations and that is why even universities are insisting on post JAMB examination to be conducted by each university. But I believe making a law that will compel government officials to send their wards to government schools is not a solution.We usually assume that the rot in our education sector is found only in public schools.Infact,examination malpractice is more prevalent in private schools than public ones because the proprietors will not risk allowing their students fail the examinations lest people will withdraw their wards from schools. The only solution is to return to “status quo ante”.I mentioned our interactions with Auwal during our days at Science secondary schools to show that these schools became best in Nigeria with meager resources but with discipline and dedication to work. I remember those days,we had a teacher called Mr Okereke that taught us chemistry.There were students that use to read small examination-directed books called “key points”.God save you if Mr Okereke saw you with those books. He insist that we must read Ababio,Abbot and similar text books. During examinations students are thoroughly searched before allowing them into the examination hall.Those schools insisted that we must become independent in thinking and writing examinations.We were not allowed to listen to transistor radio but are only allowed to watch TV once during weekends.We were made to read during prep sessions in the afternoon and night.The teachers insist we must write our notes ourselves.We did not like those strictness of our teachers then,but later we found out that they made us stronger.There were times when our collagues from those schools teach their fellow students in university topics like calculus and engineering drawing because they were taught in secondary schools. Those are the ethos and values that made our schools good in those days and we must return to them if we want to salvage our education sector.