Professionals in the education sector have identified investment in infrastructure by forward thinking schools as a strategic measure to create diverse opportunities for students to re-discover themselves and their future career paths.
They observed that poor physical infrastructure for teaching and learning in public secondary schools across Nigeria which impact students in the long run may have forced private sector to invest in modern infrastructure to unlock student’s potential.
Determined to drive transformation in teaching and learning across the country, Educational institution like Greensprings School Lagos recently announced plans to launch, Air and Sea Lab, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Lab, Business Incubator, as well as College and University Readiness Centres in Lagos.
Barney Wilson, deputy director of Education, Greensprings School opines that the labs would help to provide the workforce in the leadership team for the future in Nigeria and the continent.
Wilson says with the air and sea lab, students would explore and research every aspect of air and water so they will seek to understand what is happening in their environment and come up with cutting-edge solutions that will help to resolve to issues in Nigeria and globally.
Speaking to Journalists in Lagos to announce its new innovative initiatives as the first thinking school in Nigeria, Wilson says Greensprings School hopes to partner with industries in Lagos to serve as catalysts for change in Nigeria.
Wilson observes that the lack of connection between industries and schools was the motivation behind the setting up of the initiative, adding that the school saw the opportunity and the gap.
According to him, “Very few students in secondary schools in Nigeria are knowledgeable about the industry. There are many opportunities for companies to start and for students to go into leadership positions where they too can head some of these multi-national companies that have offices here. So the things that we are doing are going to provide that connection that is missing.”
He further said that in the virtual reality and augmented reality lab, students will use the technology not only to explore different aspects of education, but also different aspects of science and world issues”.
According to Wilson, “The business incubators would allow students to start businesses that not only would impact Nigeria, but also will have worldwide impact. In addition to the labs, he said the two college career and university readiness centres; students will have the opportunity to research and explore colleges and universities of their choice here on campus. We know that such a lab does not exist now in Lagos or any part of Nigeria”.
Lai Koiki, executive director of the school says the focus of Greensprings School is always to ensure that students are prepared for the future.
“We want to expose pupils to the realities of the future so that they will be ready to impact the environment positively with the gains of the digital world”.
“There are more resources online that pupils can take advantage of, so instead of just using technology for play, they need to use it to be creative because that is the future; they need to use technology in an innovative way”, Koiki said.
