Education

Education In Nigeria: Quick Look At Nigerian Students Experience In School

The level of education in Nigeria is divided into three, and they are the primary, secondary, and tertiary level of education.

In Nigeria, the school calendar starts in September and ends in July of the following year.

The system of education in operation is 6-3-3-4, i.e., six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary school, three years in senior secondary school, and four years in the tertiary institution.

At each of this level, students pass through some physical and emotional stress. One of the things that are of concern to me is the number of hours student spend in school, especially the little ones.

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In Nigeria, for your child not to be late to school, he/she must wake up as early as 5:00 – 5:30 am. The rush and the traffic jam around 7:00 – 8:00 am from Monday to Friday are high. And most primary and secondary schools in Nigeria closes around 3:00 – 4:00 pm.

On average, a child spends 7 hours in the school irrespective of the age. With this fact, an average student in Nigeria is exposed to stress early in life.

The number of hours spent in school wouldn’t have been much of concern, but most students spent it uninterestingly. An uninspiring learning environment breeds its stress. It is in Nigeria you see teachers bully, scold, and say negative words to their students.

Many schools don’t create a friendly environment for their students. The way some teachers bully their students, especially in public school is enough to demotivate a child.

Not only the above, loads of assignment given to a child of 3-5 years is worrisome.

And it has been shown by researchers that academic-related stress can reduce academic achievement, decrease motivation, and the risk of school dropout.

At the primary level, every child would have been birthed into academic related stress.

Post-primary education in Nigeria has its contribution to the experience of every Nigerian student. In my view, one of the unforgettable experience every student passes through is when seeking for admission into tertiary institution.

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If passing WAEC or JAMB is all that is need to secure admission into the tertiary institution is all that is required, the experience in primary school will be the same with that of secondary school with an exception that one is now mature a bit.

But it is not, it has at the end of this level that many experiences a lot of emotional break-down. So many dreams have been shattered; the heart has been broken all in the name of having a high grade to secure admission.

It is common to hear people say “I wanted to study medicine but …, or I wanted to study in University of Ibadan but…”

Tertiary level experience would have been far better but no thanks to some lecturers who will say to you, “you can’t get A in this course.” Some who will not come to class at all but will set exam that you won’t be able to attempt if you haven’t done a personal study and research on the course outline. This scenerio is one of the woes of education in Nigeria at all level.

Some lecturers’ abuse sexually, extorts money from students, etc.

So the experience of students in Nigeria is a combination of good and evil, but I think the unpalatable aspect takes a higher percentage than the good.

Bolarinwa Olajire

A tutor with a demonstrated history of working in the education industry. Skilled in analytical skills. Strong education professional with a M. SC focused in condensed matter. You can follow me on Twitter by clicking on the icon below to ask questions.
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