Only Lazy Nigerian Students Fail Their Exams In These Days Of The Internet.

One of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria today is the problem of the falling standard of its education. This is depicted by the high rate of failures, especially among students of secondary and tertiary institutions, as well as the malodorous level of cheating and examination malpractices among them.

This is a big contraction to what used to happen during my days in school. During my years as a student, let me start from my high school days, the only way a student could pass his or her examinations was to study his books well, listen to his/her teachers and ‘copy their teachers’ notes,’ as it was called.

Unfortunately, most of the textbooks that were available to students of my time were older than the students themselves. For example, I remember reading some books published in the 1950s, several years before I was born.

What I did to make sure that I passed all my examinations, no matter who the examiner was, was to form a reading group in my school. We were five in that group, and to God be the glory, we are all alive till date.

While some members of my group were resident in the school hostel, others were day-students; they came to school from their homes.

What we usually did was to come together at an agreed time; sometimes immediately after school and sometimes at night, during what was popularly called ‘prep.’

Each time we came together, we would form a round-table and read together. Two of the major advantages of our studying together were:

1. It enabled the stronger ones among us to strengthen the weak ones, just as “iron sharpeneth iron.” Proverbs 27:17

2. It offered those of us who do not have textbooks of their own to read the textbooks of other members of the group who had them.

When we got to Class 3, now Senior Secondary 1, SS1, for short, we started making plans to sit for the General Certificate of Education, GCE, organized by the West African Examinations Council, WAEC.

That compelled us to study harder and to think ahead of our classmates. That decision, however, came with two challenges.

1. We could not find most of the books we needed to read from the bookshops within the community where our school was located.

2. We could not find enough past GCE question papers to have an idea of how GCE questions looked like.

That usually took me, from my secondary school in Delta State, to different bookshops in Lagos, including Acada Bookshop. From the bookshops, I usually visited WAEC’s office in Yaba, to buy past question papers.

To cut the story short, we passed our examinations in flying colours, which helped to form the foundation of what I am today.

The same thing happened when I was studying accounting, banking, and journalism. I belonged to different study groups that came together to study at an agreed time. And in the end, my effort was crowned with success.

With the coming of the Internet, learning and studying became easier and simpler. The Internet opened my eyes to know that any SERIOUS person can learn and become whatever he/she wants to become with the help of millions of tutorials on almost every topic imaginable.

For example, I became a better banker, a better accountant, and a better journalist by learning from better accountants, bankers and journalists whom I could find on Internet. I also became an information communication technology, ICT, without going to any school, just by learning from ICT schools and ICT experts that populate the Internet.

I am terribly surprised and embarrassed that Nigeria is facing a decline in its standard of education, especially when most of Nigerian youths spend most of their time on the Internet.  ‘What an irony?’ you would say!

This is not only an irony, but also a very sad commentary that must be looked into, considering the following scenarios.

a. During my days as a student, there were few good books for students to study, but today, there are billions of current and better books.

b. There were very few good and qualified teachers during my school days, but today, we have better and more qualified teachers.

c. There was nothing like the Internet, then, but today, the Internet is here with billions of resources and tutorials on every topic imaginable, for any serious person to use and pass his/her examinations of any kind.

From my observation and study of this very bad situation, I can confidently say that only lazy students of secondary schools and tertiary institutions fail their examinations in these days of the Internet.

Do you agree with me?

Whether you agree with me or not, I can say this anywhere and anytime with all sense of responsibility and without any fear of contradiction;  Only Lazy Nigerian Students Fail Their Exams In These Days Of The Internet.

Some people might ask, ‘What are about the activities of bad and ‘dirty’ lecturers, who demand sex and money for their students to pass their examinations?”

My answer to this is: If you study hard and properly, no foolish or stupid lecturer can threaten you to submit yourself or your money for marks.   Unless he/she is shameless and wants to lose his/her job.  I stand to be corrected.

It is not enough for me to identify or point out this problem without proffering a solution to it. My next post, after this, will be a suggestion to both parents and students on how we can overcome this monster, and ultimately, turn around the falling standard of our education.

Keep a date with me.

Cheers!