EQUALITY IN EDUCATION; THE MYTHS AND IDEALS ( II)

      GINA WEEKEND COLUMN,
By: Habibu Gente
Date: Saturday, 22 July,  2017
Blogger : Habibugente.blogspot.com

Previous week, we have seen briefly what is education.  Defined the concept of "equality". This week I  will now connect the two words, thus we will see after, the read whether equality exist in our educational system or not. Secondly,  it will be clear to us whether the word "patrioticism" is an  ideology that we need to hold dearly. Or is it merely yet another political designed- deceptive tool to get innocent citizens to fight and die for just few elites?, thinking they were defending their beloved country. While this said, let take the journey through the recent  happenings in our political world.
I hope you are not expecting a well reached academic article. If you are, I fear. You maybe disappointed. For all I attempted to do here, is to analyse how I view the concept of "equality" as virtually the opposite of what is conceived by the government to our educational system.   You will forgive me, if what you see is below your expectations.
When the phrase  equality of education  is pronounced , our minds quickly rushed to mean, that everyone is entitled to same rights and opportunities. No, it was misperceived. For entitlement to same rights and opportunities to education,  its mean that justice is done to everyone. But how can justice survive without equality.
Justice means for instance, if two people steal. Mr A stole a goat worth three thousands naira, and Mr B stole cash of three thousands naira. While the punishment for stealing of money is two weeks jail with a fine of five thousand naira. If they were both arraigned in the court of law, and the judge convicted them in accordance with the penalty for stealing money. That both of them, two weeks jail and a fine of five thousand naira. Here the court did justice to them based on their charges as the law said. But is there equality?, No. By sentencing one who stole a goat worth the money stole by someone who stole the money in cash, is never a equal treatment.  Rather they all received justice but not equality. It has to be a thief who stole goat should be arraigned of course, like the other thief. For the satisfaction of "justice". But they are not be sentenced to a equal term of jail. Equality would be done to them, if the goat thief was sentenced to the two weeks term jail without the fine of five thousand naira.
Now we can see from these fictional case of two convicted thieves, that they received "justice" but they were not treated "equally". Let us now turn back to our educational system having in mind these sinario narrated above. If really in schools we are all treated equally as the natural laws of the land dictated.
In schools, colleges and universities many people with different backgrounds, experience and understanding are put in the same class room. Without considering the their level of understanding, nor take into cognition the level of their intelligence.  For instance, in a class there might be three set of groups of students; natural genius, intelligent and duller. All these categories of students are merged in a single class for learning the same thing. And their facilitator would be expecting them to learn, assimilate and comprehend at the same span of time. Thereafter, give them the same test and expecting equal performance from them. Isn't it unfair?,
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK