How some textbooks can stifle our creativity?

Recently, I read the very interesting article by Harvard Business School’s Professor, Clay Christensen in the January Edition of Harvard Business Review. It is a masterpiece on innovation in Africa and a must-read for anyone who is doing business on the continent. The lessons were particularly profound for me, especially as a Nigerian who truly believes in the Nigerian renaissance and the pertinent role that our human capital has in driving this revolution. The particular point that resonated with me was Christensen’s comment that there is a dearth of skilled human capital especially in the areas of basic leadership and management skills managing change, team work and creative problem solving. I then started to ask myself - how a country like Nigeria and Nigerians; all of us in spite of our very extensive education (boasting of millions of university graduates, hundreds of thousands of doctorate degree holders and a similar number of certified professionals) could still have a dearth of corporate leadership skills. The answer is not far-fetched, it is the very education that we have that should have positioned us with the right skills that has inexplicably created a situation where we have plenty of graduate employees and even millions of unemployable graduates that do not have the right leadership and life skills.

I have pondered for years and now I have found one of the root causes - the quality of textbooks especially at the Primary School Level. For example, I was shocked to see a Social Studies textbook approved for Primary Schools where the author wrote (I paraphrase) - “Not knowing someone” was a reason for unemployment in Nigeria. I had to get the class teacher not to convey that to the pupils.

Another even more glaring example will be the quality of resources available for standardized test preparation in Nigeria, specifically for young children in primary school preparing for entrance exams into secondary schools. All the Nigerian books I have seen in English, Maths and the other Aptitudes do not have suggested answers or solutions. So, how can the children actually self- study? How do they revise? Compare this to the foreign books for the same purpose especially the ones for American high schools - you will not only find answers but also a breakdown of how the questions were solved.

Beyond passing exams, resources with suggested solutions that are well explained prepare children for not just independent study in future, but also for independence in the workplace. I find that in the workplace today there is a dearth of skills and abilities when it comes to reading, analyzing and using what you have learnt to solve problems.

I think it will be a great idea if Nigerian authors could create books that not just provide answers but explanations of the answers, and perhaps even DVDs and accompanying workbooks where the maths problems are solved.

I remember finding a book while in secondary school “Solutions to Physics by Abbott”. It helped me immensely: I moved from being an ordinary physics student to earning the nickname “Abbott”, and to excellent results in my SSCE Physics.

There is a lot that is wrong with education in Nigeria, and it is these seemingly small things that create the biggest problems. Thankfully, this is not a problem for the Government to solve, but one that right-thinking scholars, educators, teachers and authors can resolve.

Omagbitse Barrow, Abuja.