UTME waiver for Colleges of Education sparks criticism as concerns grow over Nigeria’s declining education standards

If the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunji Alausa, thought he would be applauded for the Federal Government policy excusing applicants seeking admission into the country’s Colleges of Education from writing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), he goofed! He got flaks instead!

Also read: JAMB urges patience over delay in UTME result slip printing

A problem with policy-makers is that they often do not take enough time to explain what informed policy decisions.

They just shorn them out and expect the public to simply gobble them! I am certain there must be good reasons for this policy – but what are they? Is it that the Colleges of Education are no longer regarded as “Tertiary” institutions?

Have they been degraded in the pecking order of importance or relevance? “Tertiary” is defined as “third in order, rank or stage of development, following primary and secondary” education.”

If Colleges of Education are no longer to participate in the same rituals as their more illustrious university and polytechnic colleagues, where do they now belong?

I can bet that the new policy never meant to demote, degrade or downgrade Colleges of Education, but in the absence of a clear and unambiguous explanation of the motive behind the policy and the goals it seeks to achieve, that unintended purpose is the meaning that has now widely been ascribed to it. Quite unfortunate!

The policy, I suspect, seeks to make access to Colleges of Education less cumbersome and less costly so as to attract more students and reverse the current ugly trend of students ignoring to go to Colleges of Education.

Encouraging students to fancy Education as a course of study makes sense to me, but whether the policy announced by the Minister will achieve this end remains to be seen.

In fact, critics have argued that the policy will be counter-productive in the end; as it will be seen as delisting the colleges of education from the elite class of institutions of higher learning that write JAMB.

And this will further add to the misery of the Education sector, not only at the College of Education level but also at the university level.

Ask JAMB! Education as a course of study is derided by applicants into institutions of higher learning. Courses that are much sought after are Medicine (Surgery especially, and where that is not available, Dentistry, Physiotherapy, etc), Law, Pharmacy, Engineering, Architecture, Accountancy, etc. Education- and Agriculture-based courses are glossed over by applicants.

While thousands of applicants run after few available vacancies in the “elite” courses listed above, the quota for Education- and Agriculture-based courses go unfilled.

It is when applicants fail to clinch the hot-cake courses that they reluctantly consider admission into other courses.

And you can bet that they will write JAMB again or seek to cross over from the course they are tying down in the university into their preferred course.

Colleges of Education generally are not attractive to students because they are not as glamorous as the universities.

So, many of such colleges owned by both Federal and State governments have converted to universities; for instance Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo; Alvan Ikoku, Emmanuel Alayande, Michael Otedola, Osun State College of Education, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, among others.

Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology do not fare better. The dichotomy between degree- and HND-holders continue to discourage many students from choosing the polytechnics.

A friend with HND in Statistics was denied the opportunity of heading his home-state’s Office of Statistics simply on that account, not because he was not competent or capable. Will such a fellow encourage anyone to go to a polytechnic or college of education?

Like the colleges of education, the polytechnics are also converting – or is it upgrading? – into universities because of the dichotomy mentioned above and the disparity in conditions of service that does not favour polytechnic graduates.

I did not get to know of the gravity of the situation until recently when I joined a group of professionals drawn from home and abroad with the self-proclaimed mission of promoting the well-being of my hometown, Owo in Ondo state.

One of the group’s goals is to have the polytechnic in the town converted or upgraded into a university. Why, I asked.

Those knowledgeable about the matter explained that polytechnics no longer attract or retain clientele like the universities.

When an argument ensued about the name of the new university, someone advised “Just any name, once it is called a university!”

Education is in tatters in this country. It is a process that started a long time ago. Witness decades of military rule with their jackboot policies.

How many times and how shamelessly did fawning semi-illiterate military leaders strip the academia naked in public glare? Quota system! Federal Character! Private schools! Proliferation of universities! Deliberate underfunding of education! Strikes without end!

Is it that Nigeria’s rulers do not understand the central place of education in any development model? Whoever you are and whatever you are, a teacher taught you and whatever you may wish to become in life, a teacher must teach you.

If we keep regressing in every aspect of life, look in the direction of the education we got and what we ourselves are ditching out to coming generations.

While our worst students are those we push into education, and while the education sector attracts the least attention from us, the developed countries act differently. Listen to my findings from Google:

“Several countries with top-performing education systems, particularly in Asia and Scandinavia, have built cultures where the most talented students are recruited, are highly trained, and are respected as top professionals in the teaching field.” Examples given include:

“Finland: Widely regarded as having one of the world’s best education systems, Finland accepts only about 10% of applicants into teacher training programs. Teaching is seen as a high-status career, and teachers are required to hold a Master’s degree.

“Singapore: The Ministry of Education recruits from the top one-third of university graduates. These recruits are selected for their aptitude and passion before commencing specialized training at the National Institute of Education (NIE).

“South Korea: Teaching is a dream career rather than a backup plan, with candidates coming from the best graduates, often passing highly competitive exams to enter the profession, earning high salaries and respect as ‘nation builders’.

“China (especially Shanghai): High-performing, with a culture of respect that ranks in the highest tier globally, frequently attracting top-tier talent into the classroom.

“Japan: Requires a highly competitive examination for entry into the teaching profession.

“Germany: The country recruits highly qualified individuals, specifically encouraging talented individuals to enter teaching in sectors like engineering and technical education.”

I asked how these developed countries achieve this; the answer:

“High Status: Teaching is socially and professionally respected. Rigorous Selection: Only top graduates pass the entry requirements.

Strong Compensation: Competitive salaries, often comparable to other high-status professions. Extensive Training: Teachers are highly educated and often receive ongoing professional development.

”In Finland, Hong-Kong (China), Macao (China) and Chinese Taipei, students who wish to enter teacher-training programmes must pass a competitive entry examination.

Again, I asked how these countries attract their best students into the Education sector. The answer:

“High-performing countries use various mechanisms to select the best candidates for the teaching profession.

In Finland, Hong-Kong (China), Macao (China) and Chinese Taipei, students who wish to enter teacher-training programmes must pass a competitive entry examination.

“In Japan, teaching graduates must pass a competitive examination to start teaching and in Singapore, they must complete a probation period…”

Then I asked for the factors that encourage high quality students to go for education courses in those countries. The answer:

“High-quality students… are encouraged to enter education courses through a combination of competitive financial incentives, high social status of the profession, and strong intrinsic motivations like the desire to contribute to society.

Top-performing systems often combine competitive entry requirements with attractive working conditions to attract and retain talented individuals.

“Key factors encouraging high-quality students include competitive salary and benefits: Higher teachers’ salaries, particularly relative to GDP, are strongly associated with higher-performing students entering the profession.

This includes compensation that matches or competes with other graduate professions, along with financial incentives for performance.

“High social status of the profession: In countries where teaching is respected and seen as a prestigious career, top students are more likely to pursue it…”

You can see where those developed countries differ from us. Knowing the value of education and its centrality in any development model; the willingness to harness it, and putting your money where your mouth is – all these form the gulf that separates them from us.

I teach part-time. In a class of 30 if I mark their scripts the way mine were marked in my own days as a student, maybe five or six will pass! My wife teaches full-time.

Every now and then she complains about the quality of teachers that are recruited these days – teachers whose tenses are corrected by their own students!

We need far more than Dr. Maruf Alausa’s knee-jerk policy on Colleges of Education to extricate the education sector from the abyss into which it has fallen.