By Arowona Abdulazeez, Ilorin
The immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Musibau Adewumi Akanji, has called on the government and other stakeholders to arrest the increasing low quality of service delivery in the nation’s school system, particularly at secondary school level, which is impacting negatively on students’ performance at tertiary education level.
He stated this while speaking with journalists in Ilorin yesterday.
The former Vice-Chancellor said that the quality of recent products of the nation’s public secondary schools leaves much to be desired, saying that most products of such schools find it very difficult to communicate orally and in writing freely.
Prof. Akanji, who recently retired from the services of the University of Ilorin, said that adequate attention must be paid to ensuring that the quality of services rendered at the basic level is good enough to facilitate national development.
He urged the newly constituted National Secondary School Education Commission to ensure that the quality of services offered at the secondary school level is improved greatly.
The renowned Professor of Biochemistry urged the government to also ensure that only well trained and qualified personnel are engaged to teach at the primary and secondary schools.
He also appealed for the provision of state-of-the-art equipment and other relevant materials for secondary schools as it was years back.
Prof. Akanji called on the government to ensure better funding of the nation’s universities, decrying their current near neglect. He said that the funding of our universities should not be left for the TETFund alone.
He also commended the efforts of the National Universities Commission (NUC), which are targeted at reviewing the curriculum of the various courses being offered by the nation’s universities.
Prof. Akanji, who said he chaired the Sub-Committee on Sciences, said that by the time the report is implemented the NUC would only determine 70% of the curriculum while the rest would be determined by the universities in accordance to their peculiarities.
Prof. Akanji encouraged academic departments in the nation’s universities to prioritise the organisation of periodic seminar series, which would afford lecturers the privilege of sharing and peer-reviewing knowledge for the benefit of humanity.
He also encouraged Departments and Faculties to ensure that only experienced academics among the ranking Professors are tasked with the responsibilities of taking fresh students and those at 200 Level in order to use their wealth of experience to bridge the gaps that may be noticed in the cognitive capacities of such students.
The renowned scientist also called for a change in societal attitudes towards knowledge and its acquisition, saying that most societies no longer respect knowledge and those who possess it. He pointed out that the regard for materialism over and above intellect would not augur well for the country.
