Although it might sound cliché, it is common knowledge
that students are the wealth of any nation, the future of
tomorrow and consequentially their education is the social
responsibility of the country. To be educated is not just a
right but also a duty. However, in the midst of dilapidated
structures, an ancient academic system and a country
literally begging for salvation, a simple education is simply
not good enough, it just has to get better.
Over the course of the past decades, several solutions have
been brought to the table. In Nigeria, the strategy has
been for school officials to frequently evaluate the
performance of lecturers in their various institutions. The
hope was that through a combination of feedback and
pressure, the lecturers would improve or be replaced by
someone better. While this has yielded a few positives, it
has also been largely unsatisfying and this has ushered in
the question of whether students should grade their
lecturers or not. In order to reach a decision, it is wise to
discuss the benefits of allowing students grade their
lecturers as well as the dangers of implementing this
policy.
As unorthodox as it sounds, allowing students grade their
lecturers could be that extra push needed to transcend
Nigeria's academic system. While it is quite apparent that
the students are the target audience of the lecturers,
letting the students assess the lecturers gives the lecturers
an insight of their minds, it shows these lecturers how
much they have performed, how far they have being able
to go and whether the learning environment has been
conducive enough for learning. Also while this method
appreciates and motivates lecturers that are largely
hardworking and dedicated, it conversely exposes those
who have not being doing well enough and by the basis of
this method which seeks out not to condemn but to correct,
it will make the lecturers adjust their teaching methods in
other to ensure that the students who is their main
priority are always in tune with their ideology. Lastly, it is
trite that for every relationship to succeed there must be
communication. Allowing students assess their lecturers
bring them a lot closer to them and that makes the whole
teaching process a lot more pleasurable. For example the
students may not be particularly comfortable with a
certain attitude of their lecturer and may not have any
avenue to let that known, however with grading
assessment in place the students can pass this across to the
lecturers and that could be the starting point of positive
changes in schools.
However, allowing students grade their lecturers has its
many downsides. First of all, there is a tendency for
students to misuse this ‘power’ for their personal interests
since they do not have the needed mentality to carry out
an assessment without being bias towards lecturers. It is
common knowledge that most students prefer lecturers
who are lenient with them, hardly bothers them with
assignment and are jovial with grade points. The students
tend to see strict lecturers as people whose life mission is
to frustrate them. If these students are now required to
grade these two classes of lecturers, it is obvious that the
first class will be portrayed in a more positive light. The
students also stand a chance of being a victim too. There is
a possibility of lecturers punishing students for giving them
bad grades and this could be set in strife between lecturers
and students.
While this topic has been a subject of debate for such a
long time, there has not seemed to be a consensus. While I
feel that students should be given the chance to grade their
lecturers, I am also of the opinion that this should done
under intense supervision. Also there should be set and
transparent parameters for grading such as punctuality,
ability to exert discipline, how he uses his time etc. I also
believe should be done in collaboration with the school
authorities and other stakeholders in the educational
system. Change is deliberate and as such a conscious effort
should be made if we want to see the change we so dearly
crave for manifested in our schools.