A group, the Yoruba Education Trust Fund, has lamented the decline in the quality of education made available to students in Yoruba land.
The Chairman of YETFUND Governing Council, Olabiyi Durojaiye, expressed the displeasure in a press conference ahead of the group’s public lecture, fund raising and award ceremony on Tuesday in Lagos.
According to him, students from Yoruba land have begun to lose their place of pride in education.
He said, “The educational problem facing the Yoruba land can be categorised as the consistent, rapid and dangerous decline in the quality of education and the quantity of its infrastructural support starting from the cradle/crèche to kindergarten to primary, secondary, adult, vocational, technical and tertiary education.
“As of the year 2012, when measured against international norms of educational practice (learning outcomes and material facilities), over 60 per cent of Nigerian secondary schools are rated as sub-standard. The same deficiencies apply to all the other tiers of our educational system.”
He called for new development goals that would ensure equal development at all levels of education.
Durojaiye said, “Furthermore, this poor systematic trend is also compounded by students’ laziness and parents’ lackadaisical attitude towards their wards’ education, as well as ineffective teaching by ill-motivated and rather unproductive teachers.
“We also note with concern the dearth of artisans and technicians in the country. This disheartening trend has encouraged the infiltration of building sites in Nigeria by technicians and artisans from neighbouring countries and has had a lot of effect on the country’s economy as a whole.”
He said awards would be given to the overall best Yoruba candidate in the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination during the ceremony slated for Monday.
