FALSE ASSUMPTION ABOUT PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By Nwamkpa Modestus C (KSM)
One of the worrisome misconception or wrong assumption currently pervading our society is the wrong notion that parents appear to have adopted as truth is that they believe that children who attend(ed) private schools are better academically than those that attend(ed) public schools. They erroneously believe that sending their children and wards to private schools is automatic route to being successful in life.
They think that children who attend private schools will overtake those of their counterparts in public schools in future. They also believe that sending their children to private schools that they pay exorbitant fees is the best way to give their children sound education or show them parental love.. As I said, these are wrong notions and I do not share in that belief.
Check around the Society today, 90% of successful men in politics, medicine, law, business, journalism, Architects, Accountants, bankers etc are not those that attended private schools but rather those that attended public schools. Public schools will teach you street knowledge that private schools will not teach you and you need enough of this street knowledge to be successful in life especially in Nigeria of today than any thing else.
The truth is that many of the so called private schools are just like a repainted sepulchre with beautiful buildings but empty qualified and trained teachers. Yes, you heard me right. Many of them do not have trained teachers. Also, they do not adhere strictly to government approved curriculum standard. Many of their teachers do not know how to prepare lesson notes and lack the skills to impact knowledge on the students because they are not trained teachers.
They do not usually teach students from government approved text books and literature novels that WAEC, NECO and JAMB usually rely on to set their entrance examinations. They only teach Students more on how to speak English language, operate computers and of course other not-too relevant things like: reciting 36 states capital, songs and embarking on excursions that JAMB and WEAC will not ask in their entrance examinations tomorrow.
Some of us attended public schools and I could remember some of our kins men whose parents sent to private schools then, again the truth is that many of them are not by any standard better than us today academically. When we eventually met at the University level, they were not the best in the class then and are today not the most successful in life. They don’t even speak better grammar than those that went to public schools. They don’t operate computers than others. Go and ask Yahoo boys.
When it comes to WAEC, NECO, JAMB etc results, I can’t remember any year that the best student in JAMB or WEAC came from students from private schools. Infact, from the first to the tenth best student with the highest score in JAMB and WAEC every year are students from public schools. At the University and other tertiary institution levels, the best graduating students always come from students that attended public primary and secondary schools.
Private schools do not employ enough teachers with B.ED in education or NCE. Rather, they prefer to employ secondary school leavers, half-baked and unqualified graduates that they pay stipends as salaries yet these are people we as parents are proud to send our children to teach them in the name of sending them to private schools. Private schools are pure business concerns. Many of them are established for the purposes of maximizing gains. Many of their proprietors are not even fully educated. They just build the structures, employ quacks and start collecting high schools fees and other sundry fees and parents are happy paying.
Make no mistake, i am one of the victims of private school exploitation. I am one of those cut in this hypnotized web of private school wrong assumption. We send our children to private schools because of the current societal influence. Many of these private schools do not have recreational facilities like school fields where students are expected to go and discover their talents outside normal academic learning. Today, great talents like Kanu Nwankwo, Jay Jay Okocha, many musicians, Nollywood actors etc discovered their talents when they were in public schools because they played inter school competitions and perform at the school debating, concert etc clubs. You don’t get all that in private schools.
Granted, many of our public schools have been abandoned by governments to decay but again, believe me, they still have well qualified teachers than those in public schools,. They only need little encouragement from the government. Students from public schools are still holding forth in external examinations. They still lead those in private schools. Private school students, of course only lead in knowing all the tracks of top singers like flavour, Davido, Celine Dion, phyno, Whizkid etc and their songs. They still lead in knowing the latest film in Tele Mundo etc.
Of course, there are private schools that are exceptionally good but majority of them are just there to make profits. Parents now show off in sending their children to private schools and careless about the equality of teachers teaching their children in those private schools. They are only happy when their children come to recite some irrelevant things and out of syllabus stories that they were taught in schools. How many parents take interest in knowing whether what their children are taught in private schools correspond with what are in WAEC or JAMB curriculum or not?
I think our educational system needs an overhaul. Governments at all levels need to pay special attention to the public schools in order to stop junk academic teachings on students and save parents from exploitation of private school owners. The time to remedy the rot in our school system in now.
Truthfully Yours, Nwamkpa Modestus is my name and I approve of this piece.
