RELATIONSHIP OF EDUCATION TO THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

   

         Relationship of Education to the growth and development of Nigeria

   Education has been defined by numerous individuals. However, Education is the systematic training & instruction of character & mental powers of both young and old to positively affect the development of the society.
   Most things that surrounds humans can be handled by professionals who evolve through Education, however, the problems affecting the development of our nation should be treated from its root(Formal and Informal Education). Personally, i believe Education is a channel that connects citizens of different Ethnic groups and Religions to study laid-down principles having the ability to perform, continue and improve on them to grow and develop the society.

                                     Importance Of Education to an Entity

   Education is known and confirmed to be of great advantage to an entity that can handle and manage it efficiently and effectively channeling its powers to rapidly develop the entity.
1) Education is Respect - The more educated you are, the more respect you get from those around you.
2) Understanding the world we live in - We get to know more of the world through subjects like geography, science and history.
3) Education and Health-care - Illiteracy breeds ignorance and ignorance is very dangerous when it comes to health-care. Educated people are preventive because they know  the causes of some diseases.
4) For economic growth of the nation - Australia, USA and Japan are some of the countries with high literacy rates, these countries are prosperous and citizens have high per capita income. In countries of low literacy rates which are mostly underdeveloped and developing nations, most of its citizens live below the poverty line. Hence, education is vital for the economic growth of a nation.

   In conclusion, Education in every sense is one of the fundamental factors of development. An entity cannot achieve sustainable economic development without substantial investment in human capital. Education gives humans understanding of themselves and whatever surrounds them. It improves the quality of human lives and leads to broad social benefits to individuals and society. Education increases productivity and creativity and promotes entrepreneurship and technological advances. In addition it plays a very crucial role in securing economic and social progress and improving income distribution.

Whats Failing Us?

   Despite the standard of our education system, we suffer from some problems which have been discussed on an article i published weeks ago titled 'Management Of The Nigerian Education System' but will be briefly discussed on here.
1) Rampant Inequality of access to educational opportunities of satisfactory standard - Most poor students attend schools that are unfit for human learning, schools without water and sanitation, electricity, telephone, library, workshop or laboratory, etc. Parents remaining powerless and also unable to give intellectual support to the educational aspiration of their wards. Teachers may never see supervisors from one year to the next.   Without a solid foundation of learning, their chances of educational and economic success in later years are dim. So poverty reproduces itself.

2) Low Teacher Morale - There are so many factors that work to build the morale of workers in the working Environment. The morale of our teachers in most communities is low and its causes may differ. Indiscipline on the part of teachers & workers is a source of demoralization among those who want to work & succeed. Workers in a learning institution may suffer a more subtle & insidious form of demoralization if they are not professionally equipped or resourced to cope with new demands that are being made of them.

3) Administration Challenges - There is a serious crisis of management and administration at all levels. Workers at our various learning institutions should perform their tasks in a business-like way which means being punctual, giving adequate professional support to their institutions of learning. Failure to perform tasks in business-like way will have drastic effect on the institution, e.g, sap the morale of conscientious staff, undermine good teaching and learning, which depend on peace, order, stability and professional challenge. The situation worsens when Government Authorities are ineffective, Consequences are costly, especially in bigger educational institutions.

4) Poor quality Of Learning - Poor learning is associated with poverty, absent facilities, under-prepared teachers, lack of learning resources and lack of discipline(culture of learning, teaching and service) The number of young people who study mathematics with any degree of understanding and proficiency has declined when it should have been increasing rapidly. As a result, mathematical illiteracy is rife in our society and the pool of recruits for further and higher Education in the information and science-based professions is shrinking, a fact that has grave implications for our national future in the 21st century.

The Way Forward(Possible Solutions)

1) Breaking the back of illiteracy among adults and youths
2) We must ensure the success of active learning through outcomes-based education
3) We must develop the professional quality of our teaching force.
4) We must create a vibrant further education and training system to equip youth and adults to meet the social and economic needs of the 21st century
5) We must deal urgently and purposefully with the intellectual, professional and moral challenges facing Nigeria in the 21st century

   Despite our success stories, we are failing, our system of governance, administration and finance have not yet succeeded in hauling our society out of arbitrary & unequal education conditions which have been hindering the growth and development of our country for years.
   We can tell that from the previous topics on development of the education system that, an individual, society and Government has obligations to perform to create a Nigerian Education System that will aid the growth and development of our Nation. All modern nations with strong democratic traditions and successful economies have invested heavily in the education and training of their people, in order to ensure access by all citizens to educational opportunity, and continuously to raise the level and quality of learning throughout their societies. Our country has a long way to go and no time to lose.
                                  God help and bless Nigeria, Amen.