Determined to encourage those indigenous to Oriade Local Council Development Area (LCDA) to further their education, it has distributed the General Certificate of Examination (GCE) forms to over 100 deserving students of the council.
Speaking during the distribution exercise, the Executive Secretary of the council, Hon. Bola Badmus-Olujobi assured that both the council and Lagos State Government are committed to providing quality education for all children of school age, even as she advised the students to be studious, obedient and respectful at all times.
Noting that the council, in its wisdom purchased the forms to be given to the recipients free, she said the students were randomly drawn from different wards of the council for fairness and even representation.
Expressing her worries that results of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the General Certificate Examination (GCE) in recent time reveal great decline in the standard of the education sector, the council chief maintained that “it has manifested in the quality of our graduates that are churned out yearly from our universities and other institutions of higher learning. There is no need to argue that urgent steps need to be taken to reverse the trend.”
Hon. Badmus-Olujobi stated that the presentation of the GCE forms to the beneficiaries was a manifestation of the council’s commitment to improve standard of education, provide opportunities for brilliant but indigent students to access quality education and generally to improve the educational content of the local government.
Promising that the council will organise first-rate preparatory classes for GCE candidates and recipients of the council’s gesture, the council chief advised the beneficiaries to take their studies serious and comply with all rules and regulations governing all examinations. She further urged the students to “read your books and be committed to your academic careers so that you would excel in all your examinations.”
Continuing, she said: “It’s natural that in an environment such as ours, students should be encouraged to realise their potential. Parents of some of the beneficiaries could not afford the cost of the GCE forms; and these are brilliant students. So, I think it’s necessary for the local government to help them. That informed our distribution of the forms to deserving students.”
In a chat with Southwest Report after the event, Hon. Badmus-Olujobi said she is worried by the continued decline in education standard which results from students’ lack of interest in reading books, saying that the council is willing to set up coaching centres where students would be taught the art of reading and writing.
On how to tackle the falling standard of education, the council chief advocated an encouragement of reading culture and enforcement of literary appreciation for all students, irrespective of their chosen areas of study as a way of inculcating in them the reading culture.
“If children are encouraged to have interest in books and reading right from their formative years all through their primary, secondary and tertiary education years, our schools, especially the universities would produce quality graduates who will, in turn, help the country in her quest for socio-economic and technological development,” she said.
While decrying the prevalence of examination malpractices in Nigerian schools, which, she said, resulted from students’ lack of interest in books and reading, Hon. Badmus-Olujobi, who was the Deputy Speaker of the Seventh Lagos State House of Assembly said lack of solid foundation in the area of reading and having interest in books has adversely affected the standard of education in our country, even as she said the remedy lay on government making literary appreciation an integral part of the school curriculum to give a fresh direction to the issue of reviving or rekindling the reading culture in our students and among Nigerians.
She said: “This hue and cry about the falling standard of education which results from lack of interest in books and reading would be in the thrash can of history if government and the relevant agency and stakeholders saddled with the responsibility of moulding our future leaders should see it as an urgent challenge to redirect the mindset of our students by blocking all loopholes that make examination fraud to thrive, through serious emphasis on reading as part of our culture and the provision of books for students’ use.”
Hon. Badmus-Olujobi hinted that should the passion for reading is sustained, students would excel in any field of study, be it the arts, economics, technical or scientific. She therefore urged government to urgently embark on fundamental reforms of our education system which touches on curriculum, teaching and learning.
She advised parents to monitor their children’s’ activities and the kind of friends they keep.
She said: “It is the duty of every parent to ensure that their children imbibe reading as culture. They should sit down with their children to read with and for them. It is unfortunate that these days most parents don’t spend quality time with their children to monitor their academic progress. The craze for materialism tend on the part of parents tends to trivialize the important parental function of bringing up children the right way.
“Some parents do not care the kind of fiends their children keep. Some do not care about how their children spend their leisure time and the periods they watch television. These days, children are much more interested in watching television even late into the night and surfing on the net. There seems to be lack of parental guide on the kind of film to watch and what periods to do certain things. In such situation, it is logical that less and less time is being devoted to the book and reading.”
“Government, parents, teachers and all stakeholders in education should take decisive steps to ensure that the future of the country is not populated by semi-illiterate individuals who will definitely impinge on the country’s quest for development,”
She also advised government not to leave the provision of books to the parents alone but should provide schools and students with books on a regular basis, even as she said government should establish libraries in every primary and secondary schools and stock them with the relevant books.
