NIGERIA, MY NATION.

                         

DEVELOPMENT OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN NIGERIA AS THE CURE TO MOST OF OUR SOCIETAL PROBLEMS

   The system of education used in Nigeria is 6-3-3-4, which is a standard system but is then faced with problems that have hindered and still hindering the growth and development of the education system, if the problems facing education system are not treated soon, it will increase crime rate in the society and also spell destruction for the education system of the country, a country's greatest investment should be the education sector because the main function of education is to educate and enlighten the citizen thereby aiding the growth and development of the country.   Francis Bacon said "Things alter for the worse spontaneously if they not be altered for the better designedly"

                                               DEFINITION
   Education is the systematic training & instruction of character & mental powers of both young & old to positively affect the growth & development of a nation.

                            CURRENT LEVEL OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
   The standard of education in Nigeria slopes downward & this tend  to affect the growth & development of our nation.   In thousands of schools nationwide ranging from primary to secondary institution of learning, the school uniforms are poor, also many of the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions have poor learning environment which is dangerous & unfit for human habitation, hundreds of learning institutions have no water on site, no sanitation whatsoever  & insufficient toilets. These conditions threatens the social & teaching activities of the school, its impossible to contemplate this with complacency & this situation cries out for remedy.   Therefore, calling the individual, society and administrators to action of  the development of the education system in Nigeria will be viewed from four important sectors of our nation which are; Health sector, Engineering sectors, Environmental Sector, Education/Management sector. This week will be focused on the health team.

                            HEALTH AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO EDUCATION
   As we all know that health is wealth , defining health and the relationship states that "knowledge acquired on medical skills having the ability to perform, continue and improve on the baseline knowledge towards solving  health-related problems"
   In this interview, i was made to know that they are referred to as a team & that they would score the health team a 50%.  The health team comprises of pharmacists, microbiologists, laboratory technicians, record keepers, cleaners, health assistants, drivers, laundry department, engineers, dieticians, radiographers, physiotherapists and other workers of the health institution.
   The Nigerian Health System is poorly developed, no adequate functional systems, poor routine surveillance and medical intelligence, inadequate management and leadership principles. The Nigeria health care has suffered several downfall despite her strategic position in Africa. Health facilities, health center, personnel and medical equipment are inadequate in this country especially in the rural areas. Health care system remains weak as evidenced by lack of coordination, fragmentation of services, dearth of resources. There is inequity in resource distribution, access to care and very deplorable quality of care.

                         HEALTH CARE WITH REFORMS LAUNCHED IN NIGERIA
 - Before Independence – Ten (10) year development plan (1946 – 1956) introduced to enhance health care delivery, several health schools and institution established.
 - 1980s – General hospitals and several other health centers established.
 - August 1987 – The Primary Health Care plan was launched with its objectives.
 - 2005, Nigerian health insurance scheme (NES) was established by Decree 35 of 1999. This programme of NHIS was launched in October 2008 as one of the millennium development goals.

          PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HEALTH SECTOR
In spite of the various reforms to increase the provision of health to the Nigerians, 43.3% of her population benefit as a result of demographic distribution whereby 55% lives in rural areas while 45% in urban.
 - Tools/Equipments - the tools used in the health sector's education are old and out-dated. the students i interviewed said since the health team follows the path of westerners  and everything being used in taking care of the patients are more of disposables and not re-packing and sterilizing.  In developed countries, some of these old tools are believed to be capable of transmitting diseases from one patient to another, e.g, bedpan, etc.
 - Knowledge and information - a very deadly problem is the insufficient and inadequate , however they praised the government about the rate of maturity at which they handled the Ebola virus which produced great results but besides that, they need to provide more sources of information about our society's health problems.
 - Stereotypical procedures/steps - the health team is said to be a way headed institution and has been less innovative in all aspects of their procedures. Students are not encouraged to suggest mighty ideas that will improve the health sector and the Nation. They told me that for example in Nursing, they still refer to Nightingale as the mother of modern nursing and she died around the 15th century. Necessary skills are not used, the old way of treating sicknesses have proved less efficient and accurate as the new treatment procedures which manifest the efficiency and accuracy of health team. Pharmacologically, old drugs are used, some of which discoveries have it that they have adverse effects on users, for example, quinine groups is no more in use for treatment of malaria because it has adverse effect on kidney & liver. 70% of drugs dispensed are substandard.
 - 70% of the health care is provided by private vendors, 30% by the Government.
 - 40% of entire population enjoy NHIS while 52 – 60% are employed in the informal sector .
 - Over half of populace live below the poverty live and so cannot afford the high cost of health care.
 - Poor referral system between the various tiers of health care which tells on the poor managerial functions of the health care delivery system (AKANDE, 2004).
 - Another problem caused by the Government is the sole-concentration on the Doctors as if they can do other jobs of the health team, other department in the health team should be given same recognition as the Doctor’s. Since the Doctors cannot perform other health team's job then, the focus on Doctors have done nothing than disarming the harmony / unity between the health team(personnel)

                         POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS
- Adequate medical intelligence and surveillance is the first line of approach not minding the associated banners on the pattern of leadership, infrastructures, manpower challenges, clinical training and standardized diagnostic instrument.
- Revitalize the Nigerian health care system and provide specific project design to enhance cooperation and efficiency among health team.
- Carry out health campaigns and awareness as it was done in the case of Ebola
- Comparative analysis with other countries experience in addressing health charges.
- Calculate the economic gain or loss of health care provided.
- Economic distribution of services with adequate capitation rate.
- Provide performance based incentives on a regular basis to people involved in health care delivery
- Strong knowledge base/research culture.
- Unity and harmony is the key to success in the health center.
- As we all know that youth are the future, the health team should allow for suggestion of new ideas from students and trainees, it is better to invest in their ideas.
                                                 CONCLUSION
   The Government, health team and health personnel have all come short in certain areas, they should come together and focus on improving the working environment, techniques used in providing care for patients and also on the health teams personal skills.
   In an environment of a Federal Government hospital were report of cats around the students accommodation, I also noticed that the grass around the students abode could abhor snakes and other deadly animals. Such areas needs to be taking care of.
   Instead of the Government pumping money into the pocket of health personnel, it should rather focus on providing the heath sector with modern facilities that will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of health workers and of patients response to treatments.
   The environment must be taken care of as it is not conducive enough for learning of student and treatment of patients.
                  TOGETHER WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. GOD BLESS NIGERIA, AMEN.