Stakeholders have converged on Abuja to brainstorm ways to tackle the menace of moral decadence in children to foster the development and progress of the country.
The stakeholders at a Moral Regeneration and Re-orientation meeting organised by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in Abuja on Tuesday, canvassed relevant programmes in schools for effective moral education.
Prof. Soji Oni, Lecturer, Department of Sociology of Education, University of Lagos, said there was a need to find a solution to the falling standards of education caused by the absence of moral values.
Oni said that moral regeneration must also be taught not only in schools but at home, worship places, cultural gatherings and the like, to bring back the moral qualities in the educational sector.
“There is a need for a periodic evaluation of the education system to keep the system on track.
“The government, parents, teachers, political, religious and community leaders must provide moral leadership for children to learn.
“There is a need for appropriate action on what the children are watching on the internet.
“The Federal Ministry of Education, UBEC and SUBEB should draw up programmes on relevant moral education that is different from social studies, to provide a conscious effort to transmit the values to our learners.
“This should mean that every school curriculum must contain values and morals that should be taught as this will lead to the reduction in incidences of corruption and other vices in our society,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Hamid Bobboyi, Executive Secretary, UBEC said before now, the commission conducted an explorative survey to gather information on the level of moral degeneration, its causes and its effect on teaching and learning in the school.
Bobboyi said with the reorientation and regeneration of the morals of learners at the basic education level, there would be appropriate character and value judgment that would make our society peaceful.
He added that there would also be a place where children growing into adulthood would behave appropriately.
“Over the years, there has been great concern over the degeneration of morals and overturn of values in our society.
“This is demonstrated in the many vices and negative behaviour such as stealing, drunkenness, a financial crime known as yahoo-yahoo, truancy, violence, and many others.
“The disheartening aspect is that many of these vices are now prevalent in our schools, especially the basic education schools.
“The mantra that Education for All is the responsibility of all should be our guiding principle in whatever contributions that would be made here today.
“This will also go a long way in building a society where people innately demonstrate appropriate behaviour, obey the law, behave responsibly, and have a sense of patriotism,” he said.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, said moral education was key to the reduction of corruption in society.
Owasanoye, represented by the Director, Public Enlightenment and Education in the commission, Mr Mohammed Baba, said the commission had introduced several moral regeneration programmes in line with the commission’s mandate of reducing corruption.
He said that other moral regeneration programmes had been introduced in tertiary institutions with an emphasis on the national value curriculum developed in conjunction with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).
He added that the curriculum was infused into English Language, Mathematics, Civic Education and religious education from primary to the tertiary level.
He, therefore, noted that in a bid to transfer knowledge from the curriculum, in 2018, the commission trained about 200 teachers on the implementation of the curriculum.
The event brought together education stakeholders including teachers, parents, religious leaders, and many other stakeholders drawn from the EFCC, National Council for Women Society, and NAPTIP.
Leave a Reply