The assumption that having all reading materials in an ‘Opon Imon’ (a tablet) will transform Osun state education into a world class is akin to saying that wearing spikes is all you need to become a world class athlete. Research at that university of Ibadan, shows that among the university students, many of whom live on campus, 3 out of every 5 students with laptop has more movies on the laptop than books. Further findings include the fact that 4 out of every 5 students with a laptop in the university watches movies on the laptop for at least 24 hours in a week, while some even go weeks without using their laptops for anything academic unless there is a class assignment to be attended to. An interesting revelation is that more students prefer to do serious academic study with hard copy materials than electronic copies. The above should be instructive to the policy makers in Osun state. If students at the university level and in a university environment which facilitates academic work treat computers like a movie gadget, how much more a student at elementary school who wants to play games? The argument of course is that this measure will help in training pupils in IT use at early age—the catch-them-young cliché. But we must ask, who is catching whom up? An illiterate teacher who knows next to nothing about IT; who is more interested in selling biscuits and sweets to the pupil to augment his/her meagre salary, or the students who at best think the gadget will serve him/her better as a tool for playing games? Let us face the truth, there are more fundamental issues with the education sector than an ‘Opon Imon’ can handle and we beg to say that investing in ‘opon imon’ now is like placing the cart before the horse. The fortune invested in the ‘opon imon’ in Osun State would have better serve the state if it had been investment in retraining teachers, introducing reforms that will encourage teacher’s dedication to service, investing in books and infrastructure among others. For it is only when the teachers have been well equipped that they can pass the knowledge to the pupil.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 09:00:10 +0000
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