By Francesca Iwambe Abuja
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has decried
the rise in moral decadence among students, in primary and secondary schools saying, it is nearing crisis point.
Speaking while declaring open a stakeholders meeting on moral regeneration and re-orientation at basic education level in Abuja on Tuesday, the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi lamented that moral decadence has replaced core moral values in present times.
According to the UBEC boss, higher percentage of secondary school students are engaging in various immoral activities, such as cultism, violence, cyber crimes, popularly referred to as ‘yahoo-yahoo', underage sexual activities and examination malpractice, among others.
He said that if something is not done to curb these vices, the chances are that society will pay dearly for it, as is already seen in the level of crimes and criminality among young people.
He said: “Over the years, there has been great concern over the degeneration of moral and overturn of values in our society. This is demonstrated in the many vices and negative behavior such as stealing, drunkenness, 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 Universal Basic Education Commission as an agency of Government has the onus to re-order the situation as it has as one of its objectives ‘'to ensure the acquisition of appropriate level of literacy, numeracy, manipulative, communicative and life skills as well as ethical, moral, and civic values.
“In fulfilling this objective, and in relation to the mandate of the Commission, the focus is the school. In as much that there are many other institutions responsible for moulding the character of the child, the school plays a major role in the life of a child. The school is a socializing agent of moral and character building where responsible functional citizens are developed from the cradle.
“It is important to note that the basic education level is where learners are given the opportunity to equip themselves with moral values, skills and competencies that can assist them in effecting personal and community positive change. This is why the Commission has taken it upon itself to organize the stakeholder's workshop with the school as its target.
“Prior to now, the commission had conducted an explorative survey to gather information on the level of moral degeneration, its causes as well as its effect on teaching and learning in the school. Besides, information on what could be done to mitigate the effect of the degeneration was also gathered. We shall be sharing some excerpts from the report. This is to enable whatever discussion we are having today to be meaningful and evidenced based.
“Today , at this workshop, we have brought in participants from the different facets of life: the Church, Academia, the private sector, practitioners, and the classroom teachers, this is attesting to the fact that we all have vital roles to play in the development of values and moral of children and learners in our society.
“I urge us all to use this opportunity to make meaningful contribution that will assist the Commission in moving the Programme forward specifically at basic education level and in the society in general. Ladies and Gentlemen, please be reassured that the Commission believes in the suggestions and recommendations that will be generated from this meeting and is also poised at implementing them”.
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