Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdur-Rasheed Ayotunde Olabomi has decried the misplaced priority in the Nigerian Colleges of Education system.
Oba Olabomi asked that the Nigerian Education policy which dictates that students who scored the lowest in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) be sent to Colleges of Education be revisited.
The monarch said in advanced countries, the top ten percent of students are sent to teacher training colleges and are paid as well as doctors, lawyers and other professionals.
Oba Olabomi who was represented by Jimoh Olorede, a lecturer in the Mass Communication Department, Federal Polytechnic, Offa, stated this on Thursday at the 2022 National Conference of Political Science Association of Nigeria (POSAN), Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun.
The traditional ruler said, “The policy of sending people with the lowest JAMB scores, considered to be least intelligent people, to Colleges of Education is not very good for our education.
“In countries like Finland and Japan which are top 5 amongst countries with the best educational system, the reverse is the case. The top ten percent of their students are sent to teacher training colleges, and they are paid as well as doctors, lawyers and other professionals. If this is done in Nigeria we can expect the best brains in our schools, because teachers will be able to pay their bills while teaching.”
Oba Olabomi added that the decline in the educational system is associated with the fact that politicians meddle with the system.
“The decline in our educational system can be placed at the doorsteps of politicians. They are in charge of appointing commissioners and other leaders in the educational system, and a lot of times these people are not employed based on competence but based on political patronage and affiliations.
“Also the non-payment of salaries and non-fulfilment of promises made by the government is not helping our educational system. All these lead to strikes which further cripple our educational system.
“So until the government of Nigeria takes education as seriously as it takes politics and spends money on its maintenance and sustainability, the teachers can only do so much.
“The educational policies need to be good and executors of these policies need also to be good. This should be the relationship between education and politics in Nigeria.”
