Shortcomings of the African educational system

For some students, studying isn't much of a priority to them. Many undergo schooling especially in Africa because it seems like the only way to have a successful and good life. No matter the reason for schooling, there are still many others who don't have a clear goal or reasons for attending school. Hence most fail while they are in school. While some students cannot cope with the rigours of the schooling system, they eventually dropped out of school to engage in other things.

Considering the schooling system of some African states like Nigeria where you have to read a lot of books and memorize many stuffs before you can pass exams. Cramming is an order of the day in Nigeria Schools. You may find it difficult to pass if you can't cram. Most lecturers in Nigeria universities wants you to write in the exams what he has taught you, in the same way and manner. You are not allowed to develop your own ideas or concepts. If you as a student probably decided to give the lecturer more than he asked for during exams you might be marked down. Many lecturers in the present schooling system doesn't give room for innovative thinking on the part of the students. That is why schools produce many unqualified graduates who are not innovative enough at the end of the day. Some lecturers are even fond of passing obsolete knowledge to their students. You see some lecturers teaching the same knowledge they were being taught when they were once an undergraduates, they are the set of lecturers who still haven't blended with the modern trends in terms of teaching and learning. They are not up to date and ultimately affects their students too.

Another shortcoming is the issue of too much theories and less practicals. Funnily enough, I heard of a story of a graduate from Electrical engineering department that can't fix a small problem from wire mismatch. Sometimes the students in such situations are not to be blamed, why? because they have been introduced only to theoretical aspects of their field with less or no practical knowledge. That's why we are still lagging behind in the educational system compared to other educational systems of other developed nations. We have to develop a curriculum that embraces practicals as well as theories too. It shouldn't be one sided.

Should we talk about the preference of private institutions to public universities? In Nigeria, people prefer private universities to public one because of many reasons. First, Academic calendar is very fast in private universities because of less or no strike at all. Meanwhile most public universities especially the federal universities engage in frequent strike actions when their demands are not met or due to other reasons. In private universities, many students believed in less workload as a student compared to public universities where you have to read strenuously before you pass. If not for the fact that private universities are expensive than the government owned universities, most people will have been in private universities with little people in the public universities.

Private universities are still preferable to Government owned universities because the former is always well maintained and filled with good infrastructures that may be preferred more than that of the former. There are many broken chairs and seats in many lecture rooms in public universities because of the misplaced priority from government.

Those are some of the shortcomings of the African educational system. You can add more points to the discourse.