By Abubakar Yabagi
The Registrar of the National Examinations Council, NECO, Professor Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi has recommended that the policy of admitting students into higher institutions of learning using Credits in English Language and Mathematics as criteria be relaxed.
This was part of the recommendations he put forward while speaking at 2021 Bi-ennial National Conference of the Association of Model Islamic Schools in Minna, the Niger State Capital.
“Policy of admitting students using credits in both English Language and Mathematics should be relaxed for Tertiary institutions.” He said.
The Registrar also called for the establishment of an Examination Offences Tribunal to fast track the trial of offenders and to remove the bottlenecks being experienced in the prosecution of offenders.
In a presentation tiltled “The Consequences of Examination Malpractice: Closing the Gaps and Incentives for National Growth”, Professor Wushishi said “the Federal Government should relax the over emphasis on certification and paper qualification for everything in the country; screening of results and certificates of students, workers and public officers should be taken very seriously.”
He noted that the policies, programs, processes, products, and politics of the education sector need to be overhauled, adding that adequate Facilities and infrastructures must be provided in public schools for effective teaching and learning to take place.
The Registrar revealed that Bauchi, Borno, Kano and Kebbi States featured prominently in the level or examination malpractice in the last five years, blaming parents, teachers, school system for the rise in the act.
He said all hands must be on deck to weed the menace from Nigeria educational system.
The National President of Association of Model Islamic Schools (AMIS) Alhaji Saleh Adamu Kwaru called for a renewed efforts by northern leaders to address the challenges of insecurity that have hindered the development of education in the Region.
“According to him “insurgency, kidnappings and all sorts of atrocities being committed in the country, especially in the north has brought backwardness to Education system. Therefore, these issues have hindered effective learning and performance of our children.”
In a Communique issued at end of the conference, the association called for incorporation of lessons on morals, character molding and value orientation into educational curriculum at all levels of education.
Also speaking, the Dean, School of Sciences and Technology Education, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Professor Amos Isiaka Gambari said teachers must be encouraged to adopt modern technologies into their instructional process.
“Government and Educational stakeholders should provide adequate digital literary training for teachers to enable them to integrate technology for effective instructional delivery in this 21st century”. He said.
Delivering a paper titled “Re-branding Islamic Model Schools for Comprehensive Development of the Child”, Professor Abiodun Musa Aibinu of the Federal University of Technology, lamented that many graduates of Nigerian Educational institutions could not put into practice what they had studied because the emphasis has always been on a certificate rather than practical skills that would help them contribute to national development.
He described the current educational system in the country as dysfunctional, lacking cognant focus of child development and national building.
The event drew Islamic Scholars from the 36 states of Nigeria, under the aegies of Association of Model Islamic Schools gathered in Minna.
With the theme: Periscoping the Future of Education for Overall Development of the Nation” other speakers underscored the necessity to refocus the educational system in Nigeria from certificate acquisition to teachings of business skills in order to make graduates self-reliant and job creators.