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Pergunta 1 Relatório
The government of your country has recently introduced a new means of communication which has had many positive effects on the lives of the majority of the people. Write a letter to your brother who is away from the country, stating how it has affected the lives of your people.
24 Marina Close,
Lagos.
10 July, 2026.
Dear Kunle,
How are you doing in far-away Canada? I hope your studies are going well and that the cold weather is treating you kindly. We are all in good health here and think of you often.
I am writing with exciting news about a change that has swept through our whole community. The government has introduced affordable mobile internet services, and the effect on the lives of ordinary people has been remarkable. Almost overnight, the smartphone has become a tool of daily survival rather than a mere luxury.
Let me tell you how it has changed things. Traders in our market now receive payments through their phones and no longer carry bundles of cash that once made them targets for robbers. Mama's provision shop has doubled its sales because customers place their orders online. Even the farmers in the village check crop prices and weather reports before they take their produce to town, so they are no longer cheated by middlemen.
The change has touched education too. My classmates and I now attend free online lessons and download past questions on our phones, which has greatly improved our results. Uncle Femi, who was ill last month, consulted a doctor by video call without the tiring journey to the city hospital. Best of all, families like ours can now see and speak to loved ones abroad at no cost, which means, dear brother, that we shall be talking face to face very soon.
In truth, this single innovation has made life easier, business brisker and our people better informed. I cannot wait to show you everything when you return.
Do take good care of yourself. Everyone at home sends their love.
Your loving brother,
Tayo
Detalhes da Resposta
24 Marina Close,
Lagos.
10 July, 2026.
Dear Kunle,
How are you doing in far-away Canada? I hope your studies are going well and that the cold weather is treating you kindly. We are all in good health here and think of you often.
I am writing with exciting news about a change that has swept through our whole community. The government has introduced affordable mobile internet services, and the effect on the lives of ordinary people has been remarkable. Almost overnight, the smartphone has become a tool of daily survival rather than a mere luxury.
Let me tell you how it has changed things. Traders in our market now receive payments through their phones and no longer carry bundles of cash that once made them targets for robbers. Mama's provision shop has doubled its sales because customers place their orders online. Even the farmers in the village check crop prices and weather reports before they take their produce to town, so they are no longer cheated by middlemen.
The change has touched education too. My classmates and I now attend free online lessons and download past questions on our phones, which has greatly improved our results. Uncle Femi, who was ill last month, consulted a doctor by video call without the tiring journey to the city hospital. Best of all, families like ours can now see and speak to loved ones abroad at no cost, which means, dear brother, that we shall be talking face to face very soon.
In truth, this single innovation has made life easier, business brisker and our people better informed. I cannot wait to show you everything when you return.
Do take good care of yourself. Everyone at home sends their love.
Your loving brother,
Tayo
Pergunta 2 Relatório
Write a story to illustrate the saying: As one makes one's bed, so one must lie on it
As One Makes One's Bed, So One Must Lie On It
Chidi and I sat side by side throughout our senior secondary years, yet no two boys could have been more different. While I spent my evenings bent over my books, Chidi spent his in the company of a boisterous crowd who called reading a waste of youth. Whenever I warned him that the final examination was drawing near, he would laugh and say, “There is plenty of time. Enjoy today, my friend.”
The months slipped by more quickly than either of us expected. As the examination approached, I revised calmly, for I had covered my syllabus little by little. Chidi, on the other hand, suddenly awoke to the mountain of work he had ignored. He borrowed notebooks, begged for summaries and tried to swallow two years of learning in two frantic weeks. His nights were sleepless, his eyes red, and still the knowledge would not come.
The results were pasted at last. My name carried the grades I needed for university, and I was admitted to study law. Chidi failed woefully and had to sit at home for a whole year, watching his mates move ahead while he registered, at great cost, to rewrite the papers he had thrown away.
One quiet afternoon he visited me. There was no laughter in him now. “You warned me,” he said softly, “but I would not listen.” I placed a hand on his shoulder, for there was little comfort I could offer. He had made his own bed of idleness, and now he had to lie on it. His story taught me, more sharply than any lesson in class, that the harvest we reap is grown from the seeds we ourselves choose to plant.
Detalhes da Resposta
As One Makes One's Bed, So One Must Lie On It
Chidi and I sat side by side throughout our senior secondary years, yet no two boys could have been more different. While I spent my evenings bent over my books, Chidi spent his in the company of a boisterous crowd who called reading a waste of youth. Whenever I warned him that the final examination was drawing near, he would laugh and say, “There is plenty of time. Enjoy today, my friend.”
The months slipped by more quickly than either of us expected. As the examination approached, I revised calmly, for I had covered my syllabus little by little. Chidi, on the other hand, suddenly awoke to the mountain of work he had ignored. He borrowed notebooks, begged for summaries and tried to swallow two years of learning in two frantic weeks. His nights were sleepless, his eyes red, and still the knowledge would not come.
The results were pasted at last. My name carried the grades I needed for university, and I was admitted to study law. Chidi failed woefully and had to sit at home for a whole year, watching his mates move ahead while he registered, at great cost, to rewrite the papers he had thrown away.
One quiet afternoon he visited me. There was no laughter in him now. “You warned me,” he said softly, “but I would not listen.” I placed a hand on his shoulder, for there was little comfort I could offer. He had made his own bed of idleness, and now he had to lie on it. His story taught me, more sharply than any lesson in class, that the harvest we reap is grown from the seeds we ourselves choose to plant.
Pergunta 3 Relatório
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Late one night Mr. Oliver was returning to his school on the outskirts of the hill station of Simla. He had been teaching in this school for many years. A bachelor, he usually strolled into the town in the evening, returning after dark. when he would take a short cut through a pine forest. Whenever there was strong wind, the pine trees made moaning, eerie sounds that kept most people to the main road. But Mr. Oliver was not a nervous or imaginative man.
He carried a torch on this particular night and its pale gleam - the batteries were running down moved fitfully Over the narrow forest path. When its flickering light fell on the figure of a boy who was sitting alone on a rock. Mr. Oliver stopped. Boys were not supposed to be out of school after 7 p.m.. and it was now well past nine.
"What are you doing out here, boy?" asked Mr. Oliver sharply, moving closer so that he could recognize the miscreant. But as he approached the boy, he sensed that something was wrong. The boy speared to be crying. His head hung down, he held his face in his hand and his body shook convulsively. It was a strange soundless weeping, and Mr. Oliver felt quite uneasy.
"Well, what's the matter?" he asked. his anger giving way to concern. "What are you crying for'?" The boy would not answer or look up. His body continued to be rocked with silent sobbing. "Come on, boy, you shouldn't be out here at this hour. Tell me the trouble. Look up." The boy looked up. He took his hands from his face and looked up at his teacher. The light from Mr. Oliver's torch fell on the boy's face, if it could be called a face.
He had no eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was just a round smooth head with a school cap on top of it, and that's where the story should have ended, as indeed it has for several people who have had similar experiences and drop dead of unexplainable heart attack. But for Mr. Oliver. it did not end here.
The torch fell from his trembling hand. He turned and scrambled down the path. running blindly through the trees and calling for help. He was still running towards the school building when he saw a lantern swinging in the middle of the path. Mr. Oliver had never before been so pleased to see the night watchman. He stumbled up to the watchman, gasping for breath and speaking incoherently. "What is it, Sahib?" asked the watchman "Has there been an accident? Why are you running?"
"I saw something - something horrible - a boy weeping in the forest, and he had no face!" No face, Sahib?" "No eyes, nose, mouth, nothing!" "Do you mean it was like this, Sahib?" asked the watchman and raised the lamp to his own face. The watchman had no eyes, no ears, no features at all, not even an eyebrow. The wind blew the light out, and Mr. Oliver had his heart attack ...
(a) Why did Mr Oliver take the pine forest route to his school?
(b) What did Mr. Oliver think when he first saw the `boy'?
(c) What was the first indication to Mr. Oliver that all was not well?
(d) What did the night watchman turn out to be?
(e) Mr. Oliver had never before been so pleased to see the night watchman. What is ironical about this sentence in the light of the rest of the story?
(f) "Do you mean it was like this, Sahib?" What does "this" refer to?
(g) " who have had similar experiences and dropped dead of unexplainable heart attack."
(i) What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage? (ii) What is its function?
(h) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage: (i) miscreant (ii) sensed (iii) concern (iv) rocked (v) scrambled.
(a) Why Mr. Oliver took the pine forest route
He took it because it was a short cut to his school on his way back to town after dark.
(b) What Mr. Oliver thought when he first saw the “boy”
He thought it was a school boy who had broken the rules by being out of school after 7 p.m., a truant or miscreant whom he intended to identify and reprimand.
(c) The first indication that all was not well
As he drew closer, he sensed something was wrong: the boy seemed to be crying, his head hung down, he held his face in his hands, and his body shook convulsively in a strange, soundless weeping that made Mr. Oliver uneasy.
(d) What the night watchman turned out to be
He turned out to be another faceless being, just like the boy, with no eyes, ears, nose, mouth or any features at all.
(e) The irony of his pleasure at seeing the watchman
Mr. Oliver was pleased and relieved, expecting the watchman to be his rescuer and a source of safety. Ironically, the watchman proved to be the very kind of faceless horror he was fleeing from, bringing him even greater terror and finally causing his heart attack.
(f) “Do you mean it was like this, Sahib?” - what “this” refers to
“This” refers to a face without any features, with no eyes, ears, nose or mouth, which the watchman demonstrated by raising the lamp to his own featureless face.
(g) “who have had similar experiences and dropped dead of unexplainable heart attack”
(i) It is an adjectival (relative) clause.
(ii) It qualifies the noun “people,” describing the several people referred to.
(h) Words and their replacements as used in the passage
Detalhes da Resposta
(a) Why Mr. Oliver took the pine forest route
He took it because it was a short cut to his school on his way back to town after dark.
(b) What Mr. Oliver thought when he first saw the “boy”
He thought it was a school boy who had broken the rules by being out of school after 7 p.m., a truant or miscreant whom he intended to identify and reprimand.
(c) The first indication that all was not well
As he drew closer, he sensed something was wrong: the boy seemed to be crying, his head hung down, he held his face in his hands, and his body shook convulsively in a strange, soundless weeping that made Mr. Oliver uneasy.
(d) What the night watchman turned out to be
He turned out to be another faceless being, just like the boy, with no eyes, ears, nose, mouth or any features at all.
(e) The irony of his pleasure at seeing the watchman
Mr. Oliver was pleased and relieved, expecting the watchman to be his rescuer and a source of safety. Ironically, the watchman proved to be the very kind of faceless horror he was fleeing from, bringing him even greater terror and finally causing his heart attack.
(f) “Do you mean it was like this, Sahib?” - what “this” refers to
“This” refers to a face without any features, with no eyes, ears, nose or mouth, which the watchman demonstrated by raising the lamp to his own featureless face.
(g) “who have had similar experiences and dropped dead of unexplainable heart attack”
(i) It is an adjectival (relative) clause.
(ii) It qualifies the noun “people,” describing the several people referred to.
(h) Words and their replacements as used in the passage
Pergunta 4 Relatório
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Although world agencies have made numerous efforts to stop malnutrition, achievements have fallen short of hope For example, in 1996 the United Nations set the goal of reducing by half the number of the world's undernourished some 400 million people - by the year 2015. Commendably, some progress has been made. But the report of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nation for 2001 acknowledges that unfortunately there has been a slowdown in the projection, and that the number of undernourished people has actually increased considerably in the majority of developing countries.
Malnutrition is usually triggered by a combination of two factors, namely: an insufficient intake of proteins, calories vitamins, and minerals, and frequent infections. Such illness as diarrhoea, measles, malaria, and respiratory disease tax the body heavily and cause loss of nutrients. They reduce appetite and food intake, thus contributing to malnutrition. The undernourished child is in turn more susceptible to infections. Thus a vicious circle is formed that increases the mortally rates for protein-energy malnutrition. Children are at greater risk of suffering malnutrition because they are in a period of rapid growth that increases the demand for calories and proteins. For similar reasons, pregnant and nursing women are vulnerable to malnutrition.
Malnutrition has far-reaching effects. First, it wreaks havoc on the body, particularly that of a child. Every organ and system - including the heart, kidneys, stomach, intestines, lungs, and brain - may be affected. Various studies have shown that poor growth in a child is closely associated with impaired mental development and poor scholastic and intellectual performance. Secondly. for children who survive malnutrition, the aftermath can linger on into adulthood. Recent research relates undernourishment in infancy to a tendency towards such chronic illnesses in adulthood as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
How can children be best protected from malnutrition? it is essential to improve the diet of the mother. Pregnant and nursing women need to consume more calories and proteins. Proteins in particular help in the production of the mother's milk. So when there is little food, preference should be given to women of childbearing age and to little children. Secondly, in almost all cases, the best possible food for a baby is its mother's milk. This is especially so during the first days after birth because mother's milk contains antibodies that protect the baby from infection. During the first four months or so, breast milk provides all the nutrients that the baby needs in order to grow and develop properly. But breastfeeding should be continued for as long as necessary, which could be up to two years. And after the baby is weaned, the greatest possible variety of foods in different combinations should be introduced to provide nutrients that protect the baby. The mother should focus on providing the child with good-quality food. neither forcing the child to eat after it is full nor withholding food from the child when it appears to want more.
(a) In one sentence summarize the causes of malnutrition
(b) In two sentences, one for each. summarize the two major effects of malnutrition.
(c) In three sentences, one for each summarize the three preventive measures against malnutrition recommended in the passage
(a) The causes of malnutrition (one sentence)
Malnutrition is usually triggered by a combination of an insufficient intake of proteins, calories, vitamins and minerals and of frequent infections such as diarrhoea, measles and malaria that drain the body of nutrients and reduce appetite.
(b) The two major effects of malnutrition (one sentence each)
(c) The three preventive measures recommended (one sentence each)
Detalhes da Resposta
(a) The causes of malnutrition (one sentence)
Malnutrition is usually triggered by a combination of an insufficient intake of proteins, calories, vitamins and minerals and of frequent infections such as diarrhoea, measles and malaria that drain the body of nutrients and reduce appetite.
(b) The two major effects of malnutrition (one sentence each)
(c) The three preventive measures recommended (one sentence each)
Pergunta 5 Relatório
Write a letter to the chairman of the P.T.A. of your school suggesting three ways in which parents can work together with the teachers to create a better learning environment in the school.
Government Secondary School,
P.M.B. 2020,
Kaduna.
10 July, 2026.
The Chairman,
Parent-Teacher Association,
Government Secondary School,
Kaduna.
Dear Sir,
WAYS PARENTS CAN WORK WITH TEACHERS TO IMPROVE OUR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
I write, as a student of this school, to suggest three ways in which parents can work hand in hand with our teachers to create a better learning environment for us all.
My first suggestion is that parents should keep in regular contact with the teachers. Instead of visiting the school only when a child is in trouble, parents should attend meetings and open days and enquire often about their children's progress. When parents and teachers share information about a child's strengths and weaknesses, the child receives steady guidance both at home and in school.
Secondly, parents can help to provide and maintain learning facilities. Through the Association, parents may contribute towards textbooks, library books, laboratory equipment and the repair of classrooms and furniture. Comfortable classrooms and well-stocked laboratories make teaching and learning far more effective.
Thirdly, parents can support discipline and good study habits at home. By ensuring that their children do their homework, limiting distractions such as excessive television and social media, and encouraging respect for teachers and rules, parents reinforce the values the school is trying to build. A child who is disciplined at home is easier to teach in class.
I believe that if parents and teachers cooperate in these ways, our school will become a much happier and more productive place of learning. I thank you for considering my suggestions.
Yours faithfully,
Amina Bello
(SS 3 Student)
Detalhes da Resposta
Government Secondary School,
P.M.B. 2020,
Kaduna.
10 July, 2026.
The Chairman,
Parent-Teacher Association,
Government Secondary School,
Kaduna.
Dear Sir,
WAYS PARENTS CAN WORK WITH TEACHERS TO IMPROVE OUR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
I write, as a student of this school, to suggest three ways in which parents can work hand in hand with our teachers to create a better learning environment for us all.
My first suggestion is that parents should keep in regular contact with the teachers. Instead of visiting the school only when a child is in trouble, parents should attend meetings and open days and enquire often about their children's progress. When parents and teachers share information about a child's strengths and weaknesses, the child receives steady guidance both at home and in school.
Secondly, parents can help to provide and maintain learning facilities. Through the Association, parents may contribute towards textbooks, library books, laboratory equipment and the repair of classrooms and furniture. Comfortable classrooms and well-stocked laboratories make teaching and learning far more effective.
Thirdly, parents can support discipline and good study habits at home. By ensuring that their children do their homework, limiting distractions such as excessive television and social media, and encouraging respect for teachers and rules, parents reinforce the values the school is trying to build. A child who is disciplined at home is easier to teach in class.
I believe that if parents and teachers cooperate in these ways, our school will become a much happier and more productive place of learning. I thank you for considering my suggestions.
Yours faithfully,
Amina Bello
(SS 3 Student)
Pergunta 6 Relatório
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Children today are being hurried through childhood, rushed into taking on adult tasks at a very early age. Granted that the effects are not always so dramatic or so tragic, they can be profound and long lasting Parents are understandably eager to see their children succeed. When that eagerness turns into anxiety. parents may overload their children, pushing them too hard too soon. For instance it is becoming increasingly common for parents to enroll young children in after-school activities. Often, special tutoring is added.
Of course, it is not wrong to encourage a child's talents or interests. There is a danger of excess when some children seem to have as many pressures as harried adults do. Before their children are born, parents are already enrolling them in preschool, hoping to improve their prospects of success. In some countries, children are assessed for reading and Mathematics skills before they are six years old. Such practices have raised concern about emotional damage. Many parents seem to think it normal. even advisable, to teach their children that winning is everything.
Some parents work extremely hard to provide every possible material comfort for the children, believing that they are working to ensure their children's happiness - but they may well be doing the opposite. Often, more than a few children raised this way are involved in drinking, drugs and sullen rebellious behaviour as many fume with resentment because they feel neglected. The children often pay a high price. Although they may have many material luxuries, they lack the most essential ingredients of a good childhood: parental attention and love. Without guidance. discipline and direction they face adult questions too soon, with little or no preparation. They will likely obtain their own answers from peers or TV or movie characters. The results often bring childhood to an abrupt, even tragic end. Without a doubt, rushing children through childhood is a dangerous practice that should be avoided.
(a) Why do parents rush their children through childhood?
(b) Give two examples of how parents rush their children through childhood.
(c) State two sad effects of bringing up children in extreme luxury.
(d) Why do children raised in luxury become angry?
(e) What is ironical about parents' efforts to make their children happy?
(f) "the children often pay a high price". What is the meaning of this expression?
(g) "Although they may have many material luxuries ..."
(i) What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage?
(ii) What is its function?
(h) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage: (i) effects (ii) eager (iii) prospects (iv) raised (v) essential (vi) resentment.
(a) Why parents rush their children through childhood
They are understandably eager to see their children succeed, and when that eagerness turns into anxiety they overload their children and push them too hard, too soon.
(b) Two examples of how parents rush their children
(c) Two sad effects of bringing up children in extreme luxury
(d) Why children raised in luxury become angry
Although they enjoy many material luxuries, they feel neglected because they lack the parental attention and love that they most need.
(e) The irony in parents' efforts to make their children happy
Parents work extremely hard to provide every material comfort, believing they are ensuring their children's happiness, yet in doing so they may well be achieving the very opposite, making their children unhappy, resentful and rebellious.
(f) “the children often pay a high price”
It means that the children suffer serious and costly consequences, that is, real emotional harm and a spoilt childhood, as a result of the way they are brought up.
(g) “Although they may have many material luxuries...”
(i) It is an adverbial clause of concession.
(ii) It modifies the verb “lack,” conceding one point while contrasting it with the main statement that they lack the essential ingredients of a good childhood.
(h) Words and their replacements as used in the passage
Detalhes da Resposta
(a) Why parents rush their children through childhood
They are understandably eager to see their children succeed, and when that eagerness turns into anxiety they overload their children and push them too hard, too soon.
(b) Two examples of how parents rush their children
(c) Two sad effects of bringing up children in extreme luxury
(d) Why children raised in luxury become angry
Although they enjoy many material luxuries, they feel neglected because they lack the parental attention and love that they most need.
(e) The irony in parents' efforts to make their children happy
Parents work extremely hard to provide every material comfort, believing they are ensuring their children's happiness, yet in doing so they may well be achieving the very opposite, making their children unhappy, resentful and rebellious.
(f) “the children often pay a high price”
It means that the children suffer serious and costly consequences, that is, real emotional harm and a spoilt childhood, as a result of the way they are brought up.
(g) “Although they may have many material luxuries...”
(i) It is an adverbial clause of concession.
(ii) It modifies the verb “lack,” conceding one point while contrasting it with the main statement that they lack the essential ingredients of a good childhood.
(h) Words and their replacements as used in the passage
Pergunta 7 Relatório
You have been invited to take part in an inter-school debate, the topic of which is: Schooling in a village is more advantageous than schooling in a city. Write your speech for or against the motion.
Mr Chairman, timekeeper, respected judges, my able opponents, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I rise to speak in support of the motion, that schooling in a village is more advantageous than schooling in a city.
My first point is the peaceful environment a village offers. Away from the roar of traffic, the blare of horns and the restless bustle of the city, a village school is quiet and calm. In such surroundings a student can concentrate fully on his studies, and a settled mind learns far more easily than a distracted one.
Secondly, life in a village is free from the many temptations of the city. There are no night clubs, cinemas or crowded arcades to lure young people away from their books. The village child grows up in a wholesome atmosphere that guards his morals and keeps his mind on his education.
Thirdly, schooling in a village is far cheaper. Rent, food and transport all cost less than in the city, so parents can afford to keep their children in school without crippling expense, and the children themselves live simpler, healthier lives.
Fourthly, the village fosters strong community bonds and discipline. Teachers, parents and elders all know one another, so a child's conduct is watched over on every side. This close supervision keeps students diligent and well behaved.
My opponents will boast of the superior facilities of city schools. Yet many great scholars and leaders rose from humble village schools, proving that it is the diligent mind, not the dazzling building, that determines success.
On the grounds of a peaceful environment, freedom from temptation, lower cost and close supervision, I confidently urge this house to support the motion. Thank you.
Detalhes da Resposta
Mr Chairman, timekeeper, respected judges, my able opponents, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I rise to speak in support of the motion, that schooling in a village is more advantageous than schooling in a city.
My first point is the peaceful environment a village offers. Away from the roar of traffic, the blare of horns and the restless bustle of the city, a village school is quiet and calm. In such surroundings a student can concentrate fully on his studies, and a settled mind learns far more easily than a distracted one.
Secondly, life in a village is free from the many temptations of the city. There are no night clubs, cinemas or crowded arcades to lure young people away from their books. The village child grows up in a wholesome atmosphere that guards his morals and keeps his mind on his education.
Thirdly, schooling in a village is far cheaper. Rent, food and transport all cost less than in the city, so parents can afford to keep their children in school without crippling expense, and the children themselves live simpler, healthier lives.
Fourthly, the village fosters strong community bonds and discipline. Teachers, parents and elders all know one another, so a child's conduct is watched over on every side. This close supervision keeps students diligent and well behaved.
My opponents will boast of the superior facilities of city schools. Yet many great scholars and leaders rose from humble village schools, proving that it is the diligent mind, not the dazzling building, that determines success.
On the grounds of a peaceful environment, freedom from temptation, lower cost and close supervision, I confidently urge this house to support the motion. Thank you.
Pergunta 8 Relatório
The rising cost of tertiary education in your country has become a serious problem. Write an article for publication in a national newspaper discussing this problem and suggesting measures that could be adopted to deal with it.
The Rising Cost of Tertiary Education: A Growing Burden
By Halima Sani
Higher education was once regarded as the surest ladder out of poverty. Today, however, the soaring cost of tertiary education is turning that ladder into a wall that shuts many bright young people out. This article looks at the problem and suggests measures to bring it under control.
The cost of a university or polytechnic education has climbed steeply in recent years. Tuition and acceptance fees, accommodation, textbooks, feeding and transport now run into sums far beyond the reach of the average family. The result is painful: brilliant candidates abandon their admissions, some students drop out midway, and others turn to dangerous means of raising money. In this way the nation loses the talent it most needs.
Several factors drive up these costs. Government funding of public institutions has failed to keep pace with rising enrolment, forcing schools to shift the burden onto students through higher charges. Inflation has pushed up the price of books, food and hostel rents. The scarcity of places also plays a part, for many candidates are pushed into expensive private universities as the only alternative.
The problem is serious, but it is not beyond solution. First, government should increase its funding of tertiary institutions and channel more resources into education, so that fees can be kept within reach. Secondly, a wide scheme of scholarships, bursaries and student loans should be established to support the needy and gifted, with the loans repayable only after graduation and employment.
Thirdly, institutions should expand distance-learning and part-time programmes, which cost far less than full residence and allow students to earn while they learn. Fourthly, corporate bodies and wealthy individuals should be encouraged, through tax incentives, to endow scholarships and equip campuses. Finally, more tertiary institutions should be built to reduce the desperate competition that drives students into costly options.
Education is too precious an investment to be reserved for the rich alone. With deliberate funding, generous scholarships and cheaper modes of study, we can keep the doors of higher learning open to every deserving child.
Detalhes da Resposta
The Rising Cost of Tertiary Education: A Growing Burden
By Halima Sani
Higher education was once regarded as the surest ladder out of poverty. Today, however, the soaring cost of tertiary education is turning that ladder into a wall that shuts many bright young people out. This article looks at the problem and suggests measures to bring it under control.
The cost of a university or polytechnic education has climbed steeply in recent years. Tuition and acceptance fees, accommodation, textbooks, feeding and transport now run into sums far beyond the reach of the average family. The result is painful: brilliant candidates abandon their admissions, some students drop out midway, and others turn to dangerous means of raising money. In this way the nation loses the talent it most needs.
Several factors drive up these costs. Government funding of public institutions has failed to keep pace with rising enrolment, forcing schools to shift the burden onto students through higher charges. Inflation has pushed up the price of books, food and hostel rents. The scarcity of places also plays a part, for many candidates are pushed into expensive private universities as the only alternative.
The problem is serious, but it is not beyond solution. First, government should increase its funding of tertiary institutions and channel more resources into education, so that fees can be kept within reach. Secondly, a wide scheme of scholarships, bursaries and student loans should be established to support the needy and gifted, with the loans repayable only after graduation and employment.
Thirdly, institutions should expand distance-learning and part-time programmes, which cost far less than full residence and allow students to earn while they learn. Fourthly, corporate bodies and wealthy individuals should be encouraged, through tax incentives, to endow scholarships and equip campuses. Finally, more tertiary institutions should be built to reduce the desperate competition that drives students into costly options.
Education is too precious an investment to be reserved for the rich alone. With deliberate funding, generous scholarships and cheaper modes of study, we can keep the doors of higher learning open to every deserving child.
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