Poor knowledge of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is affecting the performances of Nigerian students in the annual Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination.

Mr Castro Ezama, the Special Adviser to Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River on Education, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) on Tuesday in Calabar.

NAN reports that Ezama was reacting to the plan to  change the  curriculum for secondary education in the nation by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).

Ezama described the recent JAMB results as “being poor because the test was ICT based.

“If you look at our school system, the knowledge of ICT is very low while JAMB is an ICT-based test.  If  a child does not know how to operate the computer, no matter how brilliant that child is: that child may perform poorly.

“We need to fashion out a way to get our children to be computer literate before they graduate from secondary schools because that level is the  bridge between the primary and university education,” he said.

According to him, the state government is partnering  NERDC not just in the area of curriculum change to bring the children up to speed with current trends but to train teachers in the state in the current educational patterns.

He called on all those contracted by the  state government to fix infrastructure in the schools but had abandoned such projects to return to site and complete their works.

“I am using this medium to call on contractors including  those that were contracted by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to build classroom blocks, to search their consciences and ensure that they do not kill education in the state.

“However, if you refuse to go back to site, the state government will have no other option than to come after you,” Ezama said.

He appealed to the traditional rulers in the state to help secure the schools in their communities from burglars whom he said were fond of vandalising such schools  constantly.

Ezama commended the Federal Government for funding education, especially, at the primary level, and appealed for more work tools to enable the teachers carryout their jobs effectively.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the the country’s school curriculum was  last reviewed in 2011 and it  needs  another  review to  make it meet the current global developmental standard.

NAN