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An old boy of Kings College, Lagos and a retired barrister at law, Mr. Adedapo Adeniran has called on the government to provide an enabling environment for teachers to effectively discharge their duties.

Mr. Adeniran, a 1938 product of the school, in an interview with Daily Sun recently at the school annual athletics competition, reminisced on his days in the school.

He also took a look at the growth of education sector since the 1930s, the role of parents and the fight against cultism
Education in 1938 and now
It is very difficult comparing what education was in the 1930s and now. One would not actually know where to begin. In my days, we had very sound education. What students of today have is nothing near to being compared as sound education.

Our teachers then were from the Cambridge, Oxford, Scottish and Irish universities. I remember one of my teachers had a Bsc, Masters and an LLB from Dublin. He taught us English and Latin. They were very good and sound and equally gave us sound education.

Quality of teachers then and now
Teachers in those days were not only highly qualified, they were dedicated and committed. They had all the motivations and incentives with which they carried out their duties. Now, the infrastructure have gone haywire. The incentives are no longer there and teachers are put in a position where they cannot be dedicated. Now teachers think in-between lectures and petty trading, While he is teaching, he is thinking about selling kerosene in the evening and doing some other things.

Discipline and morals
Discipline today has gone to the lowest ebb. It is nowhere near what was obtainable in schools in the days of old. And a lot is responsible for this. I remember in my school then, if you are late to school about four times, you will be given the black spot. That is, you will be sent out of school. There was decency and discipline and there was respect so that you do not deviate.

You do not steal. We were made to have moral strength to carry on with whatever you may be doing. Today, this whole thing has disappeared. The kind of moral strength that we derived from our teachers then doesn’t seem to be present now. Another thing is, if you stole or misbehaved and your name entered the black book three times, you would also be given the black spot.

Malpractices
Unlike now, then any form of malpractice, exam or whatever was unthinkable. I’ll give you an example which you’d think was mild. But then, the kind of malpractices we have today was unimaginable and unacceptable in those days. I remember a time in my class when Mr. J.S.R. Cole, our Latin teacher asked somebody who was not brilliant to translate Latin to English.

The translation was so smooth that Mr. Cole got up from his seat and said let me see your book. And he saw the translation in pencil somewhere. So, that chap was dismissed from school immediately. Also, in my time, there were two other students, I won’t name them. They were dismissed for cheating in the examination.

Conducive environment
The government is not doing anything at all as far as I’m concerned to encourage education. Government should bring in the best teachers. They should provide a conducive environment for people to learn. Not only to learn academically, but also athletically.

Fight against cultism
I wouldn’t say if it is improving or not. But I also know that government is not doing much on this. In my days, there was no cultism at all. I’m not sure the government is sincere or doing enough to stamp out cultism from out institutions, especially, higher institutions.

Role of parents
Discipline should also be from home. Parents and guardians should instill discipline in their children and wards right from the time they are born and when they grow up. Such self-discipline would lead the child at home, in school and even in the society. Parents ought to take this discipline to an extent such that if their children misbehave outside and they happen to know, they give the child heavy punishment at home. But regrettably, it appears parents have totally left the issue of instilling discipline to teachers alone.

Scholarship awards
I think this is one area in education that is almost being completely neglected by government. Scholarships are one very important way of investing in education and it should be revived and should be solely on merit. In years past, government gave scholarships to deserving students. Even deserving students who attended Lagos State government schools got scholarships and the government supervised the awards.

Then, there were students on scholarships in government schools scattered across the country, Warri, Lagos, etc. Those, who passed Standard Six exceptionally, were awarded scholarships. In fact, I remember even Cathedral Church School had its students who were on scholarships in Kings College. Unfortunately today, moral decadence has set in. That is why now, it is sometimes who you know and the amount of money you can put down and they endorse it quickly.