Revealed! See where Nigeria’s next president is schooling (photos)

 

Fiona Lovatt argues that Nigeria must move beyond the idea that learning can only be done in a rectangular prism classroom 

The present administration as led by President Muhammadu Buhari submitted a 2016 budget proposal in which education carries the highest allocation.However, critically looking at the problem in the system, one needs no soothsayer to be told that the money allotted will do little or nothing, if the right approach to a transformed educational system is not taken. It is no news that over 80-percent of our schools are operating way below the standards attainable, with poor infrastructures and a seeming lack of qualified hands being the major issues faced.

In seeking for a lasting solution to these challenges, Naij.com engaged Fiona Lovatt to shed some light on a new path which Nigeria can toe in actualizing the goal of a standard and effective learning system especially with regards to the basics (the primary and secondary level).
Fiona Lovatt is one who can be called an educational reformer, she is seen in some quarters as a beacon of hope.
Originally from New Zealand, Fiona is known as the young woman in a teacher training school back home, who was asked to beat an errant kid during teaching practice, as a pre-condition for the award of her certificate.
Fiona argued that she did not have to use a cane to instill discipline in a school kid. The system reportedly refused to listen to her, so she took the kid out and spoke to him. In the end, the kid was so remorseful that he agreed to cane himself and changed his behaviour from that moment.
Auwal Sani Anwar notes that the young Fiona earned her certificate, and that convinced her the more to do something to change the ways of teaching in New Zealand. Eight year later, she was made a principal.
She lived next to the school and her children were among the pupils there. She had the freedom to undertake action research on her own teaching practice, and the success of that work drew a lot of attention, including a national award for the teaching of literacy.
Fiona and her methods were celebrated in New Zealand. But that was just the beginning.
She was keynote speaker at the pan African reading conference which held in Abuja in 2001.
Afterwards, she went home and began a book project with her children. She asked her children to give up the books they didn’t need and that was the beginning of a project called Books without Borders, NZ – Nigeria. It stocked 190 Nigerian libraries.
The Reading Association of Nigeria handled the Nigerian distribution for 11 years, while her task was to collect the container loads of books from ordinary new Zealanders who just wanted to help out a little where they could.
With her great wealth of experience in the field, Fiona Lovatt interacted with Naij.com regarding the pressing issue of education in Nigeria. A look at the numerous dilapidated schools across the nation, formed the basis of Fiona’s insightful chat.

Photo of a dilapidated classroom at Bolori LGA in Maiduguri, Borno state.

Speaking to our correspondent, Ms Fiona noted that the Nigerian problem goes way beyond a-four-walled classroom. She questioned the idea of having a concrete rectangular prism associated with learning.
She said: “It is not. It is better if children stay in the company of their parents and learn everything in situ.
“It is better to learn under a tree with an engaging, kind and knowledgeable teacher than to enter those prison caves for children.”
Adding that: “Schools were closed during the Ebola crisis because people know that the conditions in Nigerian schools promote the spread of  disease.”
Fiona further stressed that schools don’t even need buildings. She believes that every literate or knowledgeable person can give their quota by taking on one student, or lending one book. She opines that as simple as the method sounds, it goes a long way in educating the teeming millions that need to be educated.

Residents within the Bolori LGA have for too long pleaded with the government to help them restore their schools to perfect working conditions.


Taking the topic a notch higher, Fiona says there must be ideas for education that are more rigorous than schools, more permanent and engaging and covers far more skills than Nigeria’s current curriculum and pedagogy delivers. She said: “People could go directly to the page and enjoy the smorgasbord.”
“If you read any of the national curriculum documents, most of them are about 12 years old by now, you will see that very few skills are taught. There is virtually no difference between any of the arts subjects except the content. How dilapidated is that?
“Then there is Agric which is full of field trips and school farms as sites for practical and experiments. When did you last hear of a school running regular excursions and operating a farm? Most schools could have some vertical gardens, but they don’t. The whole school environment is unstimulating and bland,” Fiona opined.
She argues that: “If they had planted groves of trees the site would only have improved. In areas with little rain it would be an oasis by now and ready for some mats to spread on the ground, as if Plato or other great classical teachers were about to commence a lesson. There would be food for the students, the trees would provide the air conditioning better than an air conditioner.”

Fiona Lovatt believes that teaching can be done outside the regular rectangular prisms called classrooms.


“I wish our government had better advisers. The whole curriculum needs to be reviewed. It should be an African curriculum. Take a look at some of the so-called text books. The PHE books make endless references to sports as if no indigenous sports ever existed.
“Lies like, sports were introduced by the missionaries… is just tosh.”
“Or social studies trying to tell tens of thousands of orphans that, there are two types o families: nuclear and extended” rather than some description of family relationships. The technology curriculum offers no technical skills. Primary children never get to play around with materials,” she noted.


Fiona went on to emphasize that graduates of the system are sort of obedient, compliant, malleable, naive and still haven’t mastered punctuality despite being whipped for lateness many times.
She said: “Currently it’s a 19th century curriculum with 19th century furniture and, if you are lucky, a computer. No one studies visual language or modern communication tools. There are a lot of things more important than buildings.
“We cant even get the buildings right, and if we do, what about the people being educated?
“What about the teachers?
“Teachers’ salaries are a disgrace. Some are working for N15000, many don’t get N20000. These are graduates who make money on the side doing hairdressing or selling tomatoes. In Sweden teachers are paid the same as doctors and engineers,” Fiona informed.

Fiona’s model

Speaking on her idea of a design for a “school in a box”, she said: “It’s like a wardrobe that can be attached to any wall, preferably one outside. Then the doors open completely to reveal a board, shelves filled with books and teaching resources like scales, magnifying glasses, rulers, compasses, magnets, pulleys, charts and maths equipment. It has four large mats to spread out and an awning.
“It’s a design I’d like to share with authorities. 95% of the money spent on it is actually educational. Instead of spending money on walls and floors, the money gets spent of useful learning resources: posters and charts of lifecycles, maps, common foods, plants, and so on.
“There’s even room for skipping ropes and other things that mean the children can test their fitness, keep the results and use them to study statistics in maths. A clock, a stop watch… these things are more important than a contract for furniture.”
In further dissecting the issue, Fiona noted that one major problem stem from the fact that the second language of English has higher demands than any of the mother tongues. She explains that in English you have to read novels, plays, poetry. “No such demand is required in the mother tongue. And why does the English curriculum include a tertiary level linguistics course in phonetics. If it worked every graduate would sound like Tafawa Balewa. But phonetics has nothing specific to do with English. Phonetics is for studying accents and pronunciation of all oral languages,” Fiona informed.


Describing her design further, the seasoned educator said the class would require a metal locker stuffed with wonderful, colourful books on any and every subject, can be taken out under a tree and engage the children in self directed learning for hours, and the teacher gets to hear each pupil read one-by-one.
“Every rural community in the nation has traditional building materials and methods that mean each and every community can build their own school, if they feel a building is necessary. The government needs to step up with a curriculum and qualifications system that is relevant, beneficial, and exudes pride in the legacy and heritage of the learners… no more wannabes and fakers.
“The government needs to provide teachers and have them on a dignified salary. The government needs to provide learning resources: all those visual aids I have mentioned, atlases, dictionaries, and equipment,” Fiona stressed.
Ms Fiona notes that in doing all these, then the learning will begin, the celebration of life will begin as well, and Nigeria can get ready for the influx of “foreign tourists who would love to learn about the various cultures, arts, cuisine, architectures, and music of this beautiful land.”



She says no more dragging people down with endless lessons on HIV, AIDS, Malaria, drug addiction, prostitution, etc.
“Start studying the heroes past, the local flora and fauna, local festivals, clothing, foods, food preservation techniques. Clean up the environment, tend gardens, decorate calabashes and stools, work with a wide variety of materials, and study everything under the sun, Joyfully,”she beckoned.
Looking at the subjects and examination scoring, Fiona said: “SS1 – a level one proficiency qualification in no more than 6 subjects. We would require all schools to have 80% of their students pass. If their students are failing then they shouldn’t be sitting exams. Why pay for registration for a test you can’t possibly pass?
“The examiners also need to write exams that are accurate and possible to pass.
“I saw a maths exam for SSS placement.., on the first page there were ten questions and five of them had no possible answer among the a, b, c, d options. I took this up with the authorities who said everyone will get five marks because of the error.
“I said that’s a danger to society: what if a person ends up doing engineering or architecture, believing they can do maths?


“SS2 – a level 2 qualification, SS3 – a level 3 qualification for university entrance. That will be three lovely certificates.
“No more than 6 subjected per student. Some opportunities for in-depth study and mastery.
“50-percent should be the lowest pass mark, and excellent is not excellent until it is 95-percent.
“A student who gets more than 80-percent  in 3 subjects at Level-3 should have a university scholarship.”
“The society needs to get real,” said Fiona. Adding:  “Everyone knows the certificates are just laminated pieces of paper.
“Civil servants have been able to keep their jobs by getting 30-percent in their exams,  30-percent is not a pass rate.
“The exams are either far too hard or the people are seriously short of the skills and knowledge they need to do their jobs.
“Every employed person should know a minimum of 80-percent of how to do their daily work. So much for certificates!



In conclusion, Fiona argued that universal literacy is possible with a radio, if we so choose. Cuba, Haiti, India have had transformative experiences by choosing a radical path and investing whole heartedly in it. None of their progress relied upon school buildings and furniture.
“Nigeria has the opportunity now to launch into a 21st century, African education, that will equip Nigerians to treasure and manage Nigeria’s bountiful resources,” Fiona resolved.