Reps to investigate falling standard of education in govt. schools

By Christiana Ekpa

The House of Representatives on Wednesday mandated the Committees on Basic Education, and Science and Technology to address the issues of falling standards of education in Government-owned schools to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education and ensure the training and retraining of Teachers across the Federation.

This resolution followed a motion on the “Need for Continuous Training and Retraining of Teachers in Nigeria” moved by Hon. Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo (PDP, Akwa Ibom).

Presenting the motion in the House, the lawmaker noted that the Federal Ministry of Education is responsible for establishment and maintenance of minimum standards in Primary and Secondary schools across the Federation.

Hon. Ukpong-Udo expressed worries that the current standard of education in government-owned schools does not equip the pupils and students to compete effectively in the modern age of science and technology and to raise a creative generation of entrepreneurs that will be self-sufficient.

The Lawmaker expressed grave concern  that even when the curriculum is appropriately reviewed to promote STEM education, the eachers are not trained and sensitized to teach same.

The motion further noted that there is a need to engage the Primary and Secondary School Teachers on a continuous training

and retraining to enhance their capacity and productivity to be in line with modern day realities.

“This motion is seeking to improve the performance and management responsibilities and to also improve quality teaching and learning processes.

“The quality of any educational system depends to a great extent on the quality of teachers.

“Teachers are the most important component of any of any educational system because they are the people to shape the behavior, thinking and attitude of the pupils and students in the teaching and learning situation,” he said.The Lawmaker insisted saying, “we all know that quality of teachers determines the quality of  knowledge impacted to the students and the quality of learning outcomes.”