Stakeholders in the education sector among whom are academic, proprietors, professionals, politicians and representatives of examination bodies have called for the review of curriculum across various levels of education in the country.
The stakeholders who also called for allocation of more resources to the education sector, explained that this is necessary in order to improve the quality of education and achieve better result that will meet the expectations of present day challenges.
The stakeholders who spoke at the 10th anniversary of Erudite Millennium Limited held at the university of Ibadan on Saturday, noted that the quality of education in Nigeria cannot improve if those who should be involved in the development of curriculum at all levels are not engaged to do so.
Those who spoke at the event which coincided with launch of “New Dimensions in English” included a professor of linguistics, Professor Francis Egbokhare, former Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, Professor Clement Kolawole, South West Zonal Director of National Examination Council (NECO), Mrs. Folake Eweje, Acting Director Academic Staff Training of Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND), Abdullah Baba Imam, representative of Executive Secretary of National Commission for College of Educations in Nigeria, Abdulrazak Badmus and founder of Erudite Millennium Limited founder, Mr. Saheed Oladele.
Others are Oyo South Senatorial candidate of Accord in 2023, Mr. Kolapo Kola-Daisi, former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ogun and Osun states, Professor Abdulganiy Raji, former National Commissioner of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Hajia Aminah Zakari and Founder of Heritage Global Academy Lagos, Mr. Lukman Molumo.
Egbokhare while leading the discussion session titled “Education in the developed world and in Nigeria: The way forward”, lamented that the best trained professionals are moving out of the country because of the kind of system we operate.
He however said that there is a need to reform the education sector and review the curriculum so as to meet the present day demands in the system.
“The best hands are leaving the country. Let us look at our society. Let us look at the balance. There is a need to reform the educational system”.
Kolawole in his presentations insisted that all stakeholders including the teachers, parents and the policy makers must be involved to produce a new curriculum so as to meet the present day demands.
“Enough of lamentations. We must not always think of negative aspects of Nigeria. What do we do to make education work in Nigeria? We need to know what we are, where we are, what we want and what we do and what we want to become. Nobody can know you more than you. We must get people involved. Let the curriculum be designed by the people.
“Enough of swallowing education curriculum from the western world, we need to redesign our curriculum to move forward. We must engage the stakeholders to make our curriculum useful”.
Moluku in his presentation, noted that there is a need to redesign the education system in order to suit the need of the people.
He said that there will be no progress if curriculum designed many years ago is not reviewed.
“That is the reason we have to sit back an redesign the educational system that will suit our needs. For us to move forward, we need to look inwards and design education that will give us what we need.
“What we want to discuss here today is about scholarship and contribution to the growth of this society which I am sure we all believe in. We want to build a nation that can stand in the comity of nations globally. And I am confident that the country has the potential to do that.
“It is no exaggeration that the education we have yesterday and the one we have today need surgical operation because what we were aiming at as a nation yesterday is radically different from what the nation is producing today. If we are not changing the current curriculum we have today, then there is a problem because there’s a disconnect between the town and the gown. There are jobs in the society but we don’t have graduates with the right skill set to get them done”.
Kola-Daisi in his remark called for allocation of more resources to improve the standard of education in the country.
He said, “When we start to allocate the required resources, it will improve the standard, not only in the classroom but the welfare of the teachers”.
Oladele in his contribution said that his intention to establish Erudite Millennium Limited was to bridge the gap between the town and the gown.
He said, “We want to improve the standard of education in Nigeria because we know that we are not moving forward, instead of moving forward, we are moving backward. We want to fill the gap. There is a huge gap between the town and the gown”.
