BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The Registrar of Joint Admission & Matriculation Board, Is-haq Oloyede, traditional rulers, scholars and educationists have called on parents and guardians to desist from spending money on parties at the detriment of their children’s education.
They gave this charge in their separate remarks at the 2022 edition of Ifetedo Education Summit with the theme: “Education Decadence: Effects and Remedies”, which was held at Ifetedo Community Civic Centre, Isale-Ife, the headquarters of Ife South Local Government Area of Osun State recently.
Oloyede called on communities and state governments to team up and prioritize the education of youths while urging parents to desist from channeling their finances to social activities like marriage and naming ceremonies at the detriment of their wards’ academic pursuits.
He bemoaned the attitude of the present generation to education saying that the craze for materialism and youth delinquency are major factors limiting the potential of youths in the country.
Oloyede, who was represented by the Director of Legal Studies in JAMB, Abdulwahab Oyedokun, decried worsening examination malpractice adding that, “the ignoble culture of examination malpractice is gradually eroding public confidence in some of the internal and external examination activities in Nigeria. Of what value is a certificate awarded a person who is not fit to discharge responsibilities expected from such a category?
“It, therefore, becomes imperative to arrest the drift by cleaning the Augean Stable. It is our responsibility to bequeath qualitative education to our children in order to ensure a greater tomorrow. It would be quite disheartening if our successor generation is worse off in learning and character as a result of lack of good parenting and enabling the environment to realize their goals in life,” he added.
While delivering a keynote speech on the theme of the summit, a foremost Nigerian educationist, Mrs. Foluke Pele, listed parents, government, society, educational institutions, teachers, students, Mass media, religious institutions and poverty as the causes of education decline, saying they have failed in their respective responsibilities.
Pele, whose paper was read by her representative, Segun Adebayo, lamented the deteriorating standard of education across the country and said the effects of education decadence included loss of values, good character, honour, integrity, dignity and hard work.
Other effects according to the first female graduate of Ifetedo are examination malpractice, the establishment of mushroom schools, delinquency, truancy, indiscipline, laziness, high failure rate, mass school dropouts, cheating, ritual murder, cultism, drug abuse, stealing, kidnapping, internet fraud, murder, political thuggery, bribery at all levels, gangsterism, frequent strikes, poor teaching methods and poor teachers’ behaviour.
Proffering solutions, Pele said all stakeholders including parents, government, educational institutions, teachers, students and religious leaders should not fail in their responsibilities.
She said, “We should all be involved in raising the standard of education in the country at large. Let us all go back to our families, workplaces, worship centres and neighbourhoods to enlighten the people and disabuse their minds of bad or negative inclinations and attitudes that had brought about the decay in education. Let us go out there to preach the gospel of hope and restoration.
“Instead of causing darkness, let each of us light a candle. I believe our presence has brought light to our community. I also believe that the life of everyone in Ifetedo Kingdom will no longer be the same once the Ifetedo Development Committee (IDC) starts work in earnest. I hope by the time we shall be celebrating the Centenary of Ifetedo, we would have recorded great successes in every aspect of our projects.
“Revolution in education will bring about revolution and development in agriculture, health, commerce, finance, infrastructure, empowerment of youths, widows and aged, and all other projects we have set out to undertake. It is my sincere wish that special attention will be paid to our female children, especially those who are home-based. I hope they will also respond positively to any assistance the committee may be willing to offer them,” Pele added.
