The world is rapidly changing and the task of equipping the young with relevant skills set to help them become social change agents is becoming increasingly more complex. Education in its broadest sense of learning and character building is receiving renewed and sustained attention from education industry watchers and stakeholders. Education experts are asking questions about what skills are needed by industries today.
There is a new world order which started between 25 to 30 years ago, with the coming into being of personal computers and internet penetration requiring a reinvention of education and a review of curriculum. The personal computer empowered the individual; this in turn calls for a new kind of education, which is centered on the individual learner.
“We need to redesign our curriculum into piecemeal modules where a student or person will only study and be certified on what they need to execute what the employer desires. The employer should hire on the basis of what is needed or what is required” stated Femishola Awosika, founder and CEO Roducate.
He added, “We believe Education in Nigeria and Africa is 20 years behind. Why do we say so? We still live in a time where students should get a degree between 3 years -7 years before they can become professionals and contribute to our economy. In today’s world this will restrict the growth of our country and continent because we will be spending all our currencies, measure in time studying.”
In response, Roducate has developed a piecemeal education module based on the Federal Government’s approved curriculum. “We have decided to solve this problem by taking education to the masses according to our Federal Government’s curriculum in piecemeal by retailing education using mobile technology as low as 20 Naira daily and as much as 150 Naira monthly. This means an average Nigerian child will get full primary and secondary education for as low as 150 Naira a month less than 50 cent today. What we found was shocking. Within 8 months, we had a huge subscriber base (Nigerians). What we did not expect was to find older people in their 30s/40s in primary 2, 3, 4 & 5. These people would not have participated in our conventional educational system.”
Rebecca Doherty, fellow United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA NCA) and founder of Alvaina Foundations asserts, “For students to acquire any set of skills, it goes back to teacher training. Learning should be student-centered but teachers need to acquire the requisite skills to do this.”
The Harvard trained education systems specialist, highlighted some skills set needed to be employable in the 21st century, she said, “students need to be able to engage technology meaningfully and do sustained independent critical thinking. Students need to learn how and where to look for and find new information, in addition to developing problem solving skills to enable them deal with new problems.”
“It equally goes back to supply and demand, what does the nation need, what does the private sector need. Here lies the challenge. The private sector and the universities have not been talking and students might absorb course contents without having a clear understanding of the industries in which they would work after graduation and the skills set requirements. This creates a great disconnect making universities churn out hundreds of thousands of unemployable graduates,” she averred.
Odumosu Omalara, an expert in curriculum development and CEO Class Climax Consulting, said that “Nigerian schools lag in curriculum development in comparison to other developing nations. The curriculum needs to be reviewed from time to time. What we have today is obsolete and sub-substandard. Some developing countries in Asia and Africa are far ahead of us.”
She affirmed that character education is waning. “Students are no longer taught to study in order to self-develop and acquire skills. They now study to pass exams. The most glaring consequence of this is examination malpractice. Students’ understanding of their course of study is superficial as result.”
“When the time comes for them to move into their respective industries, they cannot defend their certificates. So it is not only a question of availability or non-availability of jobs but it also boils down to students lacking the skills to defend their certificates and deliver value” she opined.
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
