The Primary 5 assignment I saw on Twitter

I spend a lot of time helping organizations craft their mission and vision statements. I have also led strategy sessions helping organizations craft their mission and vision statements.

At some of these sessions, many of the participants are not familiar with the concept of mission or vision. Some people don’t understand the concept nor the difference between them. In some of these sessions, I have had to start by defining the concepts and giving examples.

I have also seen some organizationr take a lazy approach to “craft” their vision or mission. Some just copy from others or lift from books.

So can you imagine my surprise when Grade 5 students in a school in Canada developed a mission statement for their class. See what they developed below ( as shared by their teacher on Twitter)

( The children developed the statement and the teacher shared it on Twitter)

This is a public school in Canada.

It’s not a private school.

It’s not a school for elites.

It’s a public school open to all residents free of charge.

So when a primary 5 student can be tasked to write a mission statement, can you imagine what the students will be asked to do in the university?

Nobody taught me what a mission statement was in my primary, secondary or even as an undergraduate. Or were you taught?

And these children aren’t taught to do this as a subject or a requirement for passing their examination. They resumed for a new session and the teacher wanted them to craft their mission statement. The teacher took this initiative.

Can the Nigerian teacher take a similar initiative?

What flexibility does the teacher have to task students with additional but relevant assignments?

In a globalized world, our children are in competition with those kids writing mission statements in primary 5.

A World Bank report released in Abuja last year showed that when Primary 4 pupils in Nigeria were asked to complete a simple two-digit subtraction problem, more than three-quarters of those asked could not solve the problem. Also “Among young adults in Nigeria, only about 20 percent of those who complete primary education can read," the report said.

How will our children compete in a globalized world? Sadly, we have created an education system that gives the Nigerian student a little fighting chance.

The World Bank Harmonized test scores compares educational attainment across different countries. Find below Nigeria’s scores compared to the countries we share borders with:

Nigeria — 325.2

Cameroon — 378.9

Chad — 350

Niger — 350

Benin — 383.9

Nigeria performed worse than all the countries that surround her! So even in Africa, we are not competitive.

The National Education Quality Assurance Handbook for Basic and Secondary
Education in Nigeria describes what a Nigerian child should learn. See the expected outcomes for learners below:

This is what Nigeria expects our school system to teach!

How can this ever make a child competitive?

This is why we need need to sustain the advocacy for good education in Nigeria. And not just good education for our children who attend private schools but for all children who attend any type of school. Kudos to the states trying to make a difference in Nigeria, but we still have a long way to go.

Please let our voices be counted among those who advocate for quality education in Nigeria.

May we see the radical transformation of the Nigerian educational system in our lifetime.

PS

I got shamed recently in a secondary school. I will write about it when I am able. As at now, I can’t.

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