Patrick Ida Oyinkari, Provost, Nubian American Advanced College. Lagos, said Nigeria educational institutions need more of curriculum matching with other universities and higher institutions to compete effectively on the global stage.
“What we can do is look at the American curriculum, look at the Nigerian curriculum, and then we do what is called curriculum matching. When you do what is called curriculum matching, you also have to look at your cultural base and you look at your own peculiarities,” Oyinkari said during the EduFair conference held in Lagos.
Themed, ‘Bridging Continents; The imperative of strategic partnership between Historically Black College or University (HBCU) and African Institutions of Higher Learning,’ Oyinkari said educationists in Nigeria must model the country’s curriculum to adapt with environmental differences of the people.
“And so what is there is that education is global. You look at your history, put them together and see which course fits your environment; which part of the course, because every course is very wide and voluminous. You can copy, paste and modify so that it fits your own environment. And that’s the way to go,” he said.
Jerome Griffin, president, Nubian American Advanced College, said the conference is aimed at exposing students from both continents with the same educational content and connection with other parts of the world.
“Historically, Nigeria has over 20,000 students studying at various colleges and universities in the United States. Our goal is to connect students with historical black colleges and universities in Nigeria and the United States to bridge that gap,” Griffin said.
Bola Fashola, vice president, global and corporate affairs, Nubian American Advanced College, said the purpose of the edufair conference is to create collaborations between local and global institutions of higher learning.
“That’s why they’re here. It’s about this partnership we have with them; which means we want to make sure that our curriculum is aligned with theirs. Their lecturers can lecture our students. Lecturers can lecture their students,” Fashola said.
