Poor delivery of services in primary education in Nigeria has left many primary school graduates without basic literacy(fluent Reading and writing) and numeracy. Also, the scourge of examination malpractices at the secondary school level especially during the SSCE and UTME examinations has made it possible for poorly refined graduates from primary and secondary level of education gained access to tertiary institutions. Hence, their fixations in reading and writing is affecting their overall academic performance and this is creating unrest problems to tertiary institutions facilitators. People have started shifting the blame of poor academic performance of the students on lack of lecturers' commitment. Now lecturers has been motivated and are ready to work, how can they help these extremely backward students to survive from becoming a school dropout.
If I believed that people could not learn, I would not be teaching.
First of all, I disagree with the term 'uneducable' because all children are 'educable' and research is constantly proving this even with disabilities like autism or downs. But education or more accurately, literacy (reading, writing and math) is a lifelong training which children should be able to start in early childhood. Most children with impoverished backgrounds lose out on this early start and usually by the time an opportunity comes round, mental and cognitive patterns are too fossilized to let new information in. Students over 7 years of age and beyond will need extra motivation: extrinsic or instrumental in their pursuit of education. Conventional teaching practices might be redundant with this group but they could be tried.
So, uneducable is a term I find troubling. I recognize that for some students learning is a difficult challenge, but measurable learning is still possible. The problem arises in how learning is measured. As we found in the USA with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) the tendency to measure the effectiveness of teachers based on the standardized outcomes displayed by their students is wrong-headed, in my opinion. Using a grade level measure discounts the gains in learning a student can make from their own individualized baseline, something that can be demonstrated through pre-test / post-test results for example. In the USA, teachers have been fired if students did not make a certain score on a standardized test, despite the likelihood that the same student, having started below grade level, may have made significant strides in learning. In terms of student motivation, I continue to rely on Deci and Ryan's research on intrinsic motivation, realizing that achievement is a strong motivator. Each small benchmark a student gains provides positive motivation. I contend that it is learning growth from baseline that is indicative of meaningful learning.
I agree with Ozma Siddiqui. All children are educable but in different degree of learning capability. Education involves the following: learner, teacher, what, when and how to learn and what when and how to teach. These are the elements of education process. It needs a thorough examination of all of these elements and identify the needs in relation to the learner factor, teacher factor and instruction factor. We have to look into these elements of education if coherent and congruent. Good luck.
I have never lost hope in students during my long career in teaching (firstly at schools for 3 years & then at universities). In most 3rd world countries (NOT Nigeria only), there is a decline in the quality of education at primary & secondary school levels and this problem has affected universities in many ways.
With very few exceptions "in 3rd world countries", the school teachers are not motivated well to do their jobs in the required way & this motivation has to be both moral & material.
Once the school teachers are properly treated by governments & societies, expectations of more innovations in efforts will rise. It is unrealistic to anticipate a total fixing; there will always be the rare hopeless cases. However, when there is a trend for more activity & progress even the weak portion will be positively influenced.
To solve any problem, the beginning point needs to be identification of the causes and if possible the root cause. Since, the cause of the students' low performance is said to be poor foundation in early education, I think remedial education should be provided to assist the students. it is a matter of lack of adequate educational foundation rather than being uneducable.
As I can see it, the problem you are pointing out has two parts: firstly, a communication problem, and secondly a lack of basic knowledge.
The first part can be solved, even than it requires an extra effort from both students and institutions. The second one can also be solved but, to be realistic, if the lack of knowledge is extensive will be quite difficult and require much time.
The communication problem is similar to the one that happens with students with a different language basis (foreign students). This problem, once detected, can be solved, or at least diminished, by compulsory extra-curricular language classes. While the student acquires the necessary performance, the personal assessment by a tutor and the oral examination can partially handle the problem. The ideal would be detecting these cases previously to entrance and offering a transition semester (or intensive summer course) for those students.
That would also be helpful for solving the knowledge base deficiencies. But, if the problems of communication skills of the students are severe, probably their base knowledge deficiencies would be also wide, and as I said that needs more time and effort to be changed.
Anyway, all these difficulties will be more or less important depending on the content and type of studies.
uneducable? Most are just oppressed. Try getting them OUT of school and work with them on how to cook, how to plant, how to do self-care tasks.
Some great comments in this thread! I agree with the intrinsic motivational factor except that extrinsic or instrumental motivation probably becomes more important in the later years of a student's academic career. Government policies and procedures, particularly legislation is a major driving force for all children to get basic education. This is why in the US and the UK, owing to the fact that education is compulsory until high school, the literacy rate is almost 100%. Such legislation ensures inclusiveness, the 'no child left behind' policy and paves the way for higher education or skills for a decent living. During the school years, with children having difficulty coping with the curriculum, remedial classes would be of great help. I have taken pre-tests and post-tests for low achieving students and noticed the significant improvement in the two scores after a period of instruction. Student academic support groups should be institutionalized and in developing countries like Nigeria where children are also expected to contribute to the family income, private lessons after school hours would offer some respite and should lower failure rates.
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No student is 'uneducable'. They just need to be thought in a different way or maybe they need some extra time or support. It is very rewarding when you help to educate someone who struggles with learning. It's worth making the extra effort!
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