Scholars have called for the total overhaul of school curriculums across all levels of education in the country in order to ensure that Nigerian graduates can compete favourably with their counterparts globally.
This was the thrust of the discussion at the 10th anniversary of Erudite Millennium Ltd as scholars from all walks of life examined the theme: “The Future of Education.”
In his keynote address, Mr Lukman Molumo said things have shifted and so must education in order to meet demands of the contemporary society.
“What we learnt about 10 or 20 years ago cannot solve today’s challenges as what today’s challenges are looking for are problem solvers and not the traditional education any longer.
“One of sọ many solutions that have been found to be so efficacious is the use of technology to drive our education system. Tomorrow the society will lean so much on education and we are already doing that.
“We notice that most of the countries that have moved forward today had actually leveraged on technology, unfortunately we are still lagging behind, we are still teaching the curriculum of almost a decade ago that had been forgotten and no longer relevant and producing the kind of skill sets and knowledge that our graduates require to solve problems in the society.
“When we use technology we will discover that the noise and the hullabaloo about scarcity of job will be a thing of the past.” Mr Molumo stated.
He however stressed that government has a lot of roles to play as the policy maker and driver, adding that there is so much individuals, private school owners and private investors can do while waiting for government to wake up from its slumber.
Mr Molumo decried lack of technological drive in Nigeria’s educational sector, stressing that this does not afford a learner in Nigeria the requisite empowerment to compete favourably with his peers from other climes. He praised Erudite Millenium Limited for driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution Programme as part of its Gap year training. He added that the company’s integration of technological skills into the Gap year curriculum is an indication of the recommended future of Education in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, a professor of linguistics and former Director of the University of Ibadan Distance Learning Centre, Francis Egbokhare said the educational system of Nigeria is obsolete. He stated this at the panel discussion held during the event. In his submission, Professor Egbokhare stated that the educational model that was gifted to the country in the 1940s was the one which the British themselves were already jettisoning as at the time of establishing Nigeria’s Premier University.
Corroborating Professor Egbokhare, another professor of Curriculum Development and former Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, Clement Kolawole submitted that what Nigeria needs to save the face of learning in the country is a home-grown curriculum. He stressed that the current curriculum being used in Nigeria does not meet the needs of the country and the 21st century learner because it is not home-grown. According to him, a home grown curriculum will be one where all stakeholders are involved in its formulation.
Also a former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Hajia Amina Zakari called for a complete overhaul of the educational system in Nigeria. According to her, the current state of the educational sector in the country is not encouraging and there is a need for a complete overhaul if the desired objectives will be achieved.
The founder of Erudite Millennium Ltd, Mr Saheed Oladele said the company was established to contribute its qouta to national development, change education status of the country and bridge some gaps that exist between the town and the gown which eventually creates job opportunities for young school leavers.
Dignitaries at the event include the representatives of National Council For Colleges of Education (NCCE), National Examination Council (NECO), Police Education Commission among many others.
Highlight of the event was the launch an English text book authored by Mr Oladele titled New Dimensions in English for Up-to-date Communication.