Don makes case for mentoring as tool for moral, educational development

Desirous of seeing great transformation in the educational sector despite the challenges of lack of teaching aids, infrastructural deficiency, inadequate teaching staff amongst others, former Delta State Commissioner for Higher Education, Hope Eghagha, has urged stakeholders in the sector to adopt mentoring as a tool for moral and educational development of students.

Eghagha who stated this in a lecture he delivered at the Hussey College Warri, Old Students Association 69th Founders’ Day anniversary held in Lagos, added that one of the greatest weaknesses in the education system today was the lack of mentoring, which sometimes goes beyond the walls of the school.

He explained, “Under this arrangement, old students would adopt some mentees and provide a platform for meeting them routinely and encouraging them to follow the positive aspects of life. Who do our young ones see as models? Are confirmed crooks and dubious persons not given higher recommendations than those who have worked hard to distinguished themselves?”

In the lecture, which was titled: “Restoring Lost Glory: The Role of Old Students Association in the Educational Sector,” he said owing to poor funding of education, most schools lack the necessary infrastructure to create a healthy learning environment.

He noted that a proper classroom was imperative for teacher-student interaction hence the need for “old students’ association to intervene by adding classroom blocks or buildings and also equipping the laboratory.

“As rudimentary or common as the computer is in contemporary world, there are millions of Nigerian school kids who have never had access to this 20th century phenomenon. Added to this is lack of access to the Internet. Any student who cannot use the computer is automatically shut out. Donate a computer project therefore, is one of the ways to intervene.”