Discussions to prof¬fer solution on the nation’s dilap¬idating education system continued yesterday at the ongoing 20th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#20) with participants calling on government to clearly identify what it wants to achieve with the education system and also align such with 21st century purpose.
At the 5th Plenary, titled, “Education: For what pur¬pose?” panelists admitted that the present education system is obsolete as outcomes can¬not deliver Nigeria’s future purpose, nor fit into 21st cen¬tury needs unless a transfor¬mation happens quickly.
They insisted that the Ni¬gerian leadership and those driving change in the edu¬cation system must clearly understand where the world is going and then design edu¬cation curriculum and ex¬pected outcomes to meet those needs.
It also, particularly became apparent at the summit that although Nigeria needed more funding for its educa¬tion system, funding alone is not the panacea as deliver¬ing better education would require ensuring that monies are channelled appropriately and monitored to guarantee delivery.
Tom Rudmik, chief execu¬tive officer and co-founder of Profound Learning Institute, affirmed that funding, even though needed is not neces¬sarily the major challenge as there was equally need to more importantly ensure that such funding is targeted at specific purpose.
This year’s summit, co-or¬ganised by the Nigerian Eco¬nomic Summit Group (NESG) and federal government has the theme,”Transforming Ed¬ucation through Partnerships for Global Competitiveness.”
Rudmik stressed that transforming Nigeria’s edu¬cation to fit into 21st century purpose should start with leadership.
“We have to be able to have leaders that are able to see the future and be able to see the future differently. You have to shift the thinking of leadership.”
Rudmik was of the opin¬ion that investing in infra¬structure without having the right pedagogy or the learning model in place, is somewhat backwards.
“We have been advocating that you need to understand the learning model of the future, then design the infra-structure to meet that model.
“We need future ready schools. We need to under¬stand what the future looks like so that we can build that future.
Rudmik said 1950 model of education does not work in the 21st century.
“So completely tearing down and rebuilding brand new learning system is dif¬ferent from what it was in the 1950s. Infrastructure needs to be created and designed with the future in mind and not with the past.
Corroborating Rudmik’s views, Oby Ezekwesili, for¬mer senior economic advisor, Open Society Education and former minister of educa¬tion said available data had showed over the years that as more money was being pumped into education, de¬cline in outcomes was being recorded at various levels.
In her keynote address at the plenary, Ezekwesili said that for Nigeria to solve the present education crisis, there is need for Curriculum Realignment, Institutional and Systemic Invigoration as well as Sanitisation.
She said economic evi¬dence throughout numer¬ous researches proves that one key variable that de¬termines how fast nations outgrow others is the speed of accumulation of human capital especially through science and technology edu¬cation.
Quoting a study by the OECD published by the Wall Street Journal in 2012, Eze¬kwesili noted that coun¬tries with the most highly educated citizens are also some of the wealthiest in the world.
She said for instance the United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Fin¬land, Norway, Israel, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia are among na¬tions with the largest Gross Domestic Products and all invest aggressively in edu¬cation.
She added that the rising Africa and the level of atten¬tion on the continent call for renewing the type of educa¬tion that can deliver.
In defining purpose for the education system, Eze¬kwesili noted that education must be tailored to nurture the mind, create a good so-ciety and compete globally.
She opined there has to be access, quality, relevance, which would lead to life op¬portunity as she called for an aggressive rescue of public schools.
