“ The importance of a good location and learning environment to a successful academic achievement cannot be overemphasised.
“The physical characteristics of a school has a variety of effects on teachers, students and the learning process.
‘The unattractive physical structure of the buildings of most of the schools could de-motivate learners to perform optimally.
“Poor lighting, noise, high levels of carbon dioxide in classrooms and inconsistent temperatures make teaching and learning difficult,” he said.
An official of the Federal Ministry of Education in Abeokuta who pleaded anonymity also expressed concern over the situation.
He noted that if the trend continued unchecked, it would continue to result in the dearth of manpower in the country.
The civil servant however attributed the development to the “ineffective free education policies in most states.’
The source alleged that most of the states who adopted the policy were only paying lip service to education development in their states.
He said the programmes were not well funded and students in most of the schools were not provided with the necessary textbooks and instructional materials .
Mrs Adenke Omojola, the Chairperson of the Parent/ Teachers Association {PTA} in Abeokuta Grammar School, Abeokuta, said most secondary schools in the state were experiencing astronomical increase in population of students.
She said there was no corresponding increase in the number of teachers, adding that “the ratio of teacher to students in most schools was 1:200 as against the prescribed 1 : 50”.
She said that the situation had made it difficult for teachers to effectively monitor the students .
Some students attributed the poor performance to the attitude of teachers.
A Senior Secondary 2 student of Sapon High School in Abeokuta, who pleaded anonymity, alleged that ‘’some teachers are lazy and often come to class unprepared.’’
The student said that some teachers also lacked the skill to impart knowledge and made lessons boring.
Mr Dare Ilekoya, the Chairman of the Ogun chapter of NUT, however, blamed the situation on students.
“The overt exposure of the students to Information Communication Technology, ICT has replaced diligent studies through reading.
“Rather than taking advantage of the ICT to improve their knowledge, the reverse has been the case.
“Reading has become archaic to students. They will rather be on their phones chatting while lectures are going on in classes rather than listening in class. It is rather unfortunate,” Ilekoya said.
The Permanent Secretary, Ogun Ministry of Education, Mr Adekunle Ilori, however, said the state was doing everything possible to ensure qualitative education in the state..
He said there were over 300 secondary schools in the state with adequate manpower.
He said the teachers were being motivated through trainings and regular payment of r salaries.
Ilori added that 10 of the 26 model schools under construction in the state would be ready for use in the 2014/2015 academic session.
He said that the schools would be equipped with modern facilities to enhance learning.
Ilori who estimated the cost of the project at N750 million said each had a carrying capacity of 1000 pupils.
He expressed optimism that when completed, it would help greatly in addressing the issue of overcrowding in secondary schools.
But Dr Barakat Abubakar, Provost of Federal College of Education (Technical), Gusau, blamed the poor performance of students on the mismanagement of resources.
Abubakar said in a statement in Gusau that inadequate resources in schools was a major problem. [eap_ad_1] She said some school teachers were not well trained and not given opportunity to go for training, which should be continuous, to enable them to know how to impart knowledge in students.
The provost also said that many students were not qualified but were allowed to proceed to the next level of education.
”My PhD dissertation that I wrote 10 years ago was on students’ performance in secondary schools and less than 30 per cent of students passed their WAEC examination satisfactorily.
”The problem starts from school when teachers allow students to proceed to the next level without meeting the required grade,” she said.
The provost suggested that if the education system could be properly managed by providing the necessary resources needed and regular training of teachers, students would perform well in their examinations.
