Former Speaker of the Federal House of Representative, Dimeji Bankole, on Thursday said that educational system in the country needs a systematic and structural reform.
Bankole said that the reform in the education sector was necessary due to certain factors which had been causing setbacks to the sector over the years.
He made the disclosure at the 2nd Distinguished Guest Lecture, 2016 Registry Day held at Federal College of Education, FCE, Abeokuta.
The former speaker said that non- compliance with the UNESCO recommendation of 26 percent sectoral allocation to education in the country was one of the problems affecting the nation’s educational system.
He mentioned that poor financing and poor regulation of standards, inadequate man power, as well as low reading culture among the Nigerian students as factors mitigating against the system.
According to him, “The problems within our education system are many and range from inadequate funds, poor regulation of standards, non – compliance with the UNESCO recommendation of 26 percent sectoral allocation to education both at the state and the federal levels”
“Inadequate man power, poor strategies in the implementation of polices, a general plunge in reading culture, all of which culminate in a worrying trend of abysmal performance in general examinations and the increasing prevalence of examination misconduct ” he added.
Dimeji, who was the Speaker of the House between 2007 to 2011 noted that Nigeria teachers had a major role to play in preparing the students as future leaders of tomorrow.
He tasked the teachers of the College to work harder in training the students academically so that they could compete with students from other institutions.
He said, “you must ensure that your students and graduates are adequately trained, standard are enforced and met in your schools. You know that your students are going out to compete with University graduates, give them the tool to excel in the face of such competition. “.
The Acting Provost of the college, Dr. Bolatito Adeniji, assured that the college would continue to improve and grow further under her watch.
