Prof.Julius Ihonvbere
By Deborah Coker
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Services, Julius Ihonvbere (APC-Edo) , has expressed concern over the falling standard of education in the country.
Ihonvbere, a professor raised the concern in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
He, therefore, called for holistic and sustained attention to the education sector to reverse the trend.
According to him, to say that the standard of education in the country has fallen woefully is no longer debatable.
He explained that the poor and mediocre quality students graduating from the nation’s school system could destroy the country, if not urgent action is taken.
“With such poor knowledge and low competency, you can’t expect excellent output.
“They go into industry because their fathers and mothers have connections and they ruin them.
“They go into security forces, they compromise the ethics of those institutions, you put them as ambassadors, they not only avoid assignments, but they are completely invisible.
“So the declining quality is affecting us already.
“In some major universities in the world, if you go there even with a first class or second class upper from a Nigerian university, they still make you take one or two undergraduate courses.
“So there is a need for a holistic and sustained attention to the education sector.
“If the basic is broken, it will affect it right up to the university level, because the basic produces those that go to the secondary, university and polytechnic.
“I believe there is a lot that can be done, it’s just a matter of commitment, political will, and the courage to do it,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Julius Toba-Jegede