Excerpts From The Transforming Education Summit 2024
The Abuja Transforming Education Summit was designed to host leaders, teachers, students and stakeholders in the education sector to bridge the gap between the existing curriculum and 21st century skill requirements.
The conversation was to create an avenue for both Government and education experts to prioritize core and competent skills in education curriculum design that delivers problem-solving skills by engaging panel sessions, keynote speeches and presentations from students and stakeholders alike. The summit was also focused on challenging the current status quo of our education reality and showcasing the efforts of the government in uplifting the standard of education and making it accessible to all by way of free education scheme, and finally, charting new pathways to transform the education sector in from knowledge-based to skill-based learning.
Why transform education?
Teachers from different schools, students, educators, special guests, and representatives from Civil Society organizations converged to contribute towards answering this vital question. Our Executive Director, Semiye Michael noted in his opening remarks that one of the objectives of the summit ‘is to turn the student to educators and change agents in the education sector to creatively develop innovative thinking about how to reposition our education curriculum’.
There are new challenges facing the country that need new age solutions which can only be provided by the young and innovative minds. The challenges of Gen-Z students being subjected to study subjects that have been in use for the past 40 years is detrimental to providing solutions for current situations. The need for young people to learn new skills and techniques to bring about the much-needed change in the country is paramount.
Our world is fast changing and we need to equip our young people with the needed mindset to change the narrative.
GOODWILL MESSAGES
Partners and supporters of quality education in Nigeria who represented various Civil Society Organizations endorsed the summit through goodwill messages. Amadu Kenneth, who represented UNESCO appreciated Executive Director, DEAN, Mr. Semiye Michael and all Partners – WLL and FCT UBEB for gathering to deliver innovative contributions towards transforming education.
He emphasized the importance of equipping students with needed skills that involve critical thinking, problem solving and ability to identify, analyze and provide solutions. He advocated a shift from the current curriculum in approach by focusing on 21st century related curriculum of transferable skills, encouraging learning to make students active participants in solving problems and make them change agents for the new world order.
Finally, he reiterated that UNESCO is prepared to support any partners and innovative ideas that can change the Nigeria education landscape.
The Representative from PLAN INTERNATIONAL appreciated all teachers and students in attendance, encouraging teachers to inculcate the attitude of serving as role models. He advised students’ involvement in STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education.
Dr. Iffy (OSSAP) who represented the SSA to the President on SDG said that SDG is focused and particular about goal 4 Which is access to quality education.
SKILL CHANGES EVERYTHING
The Senior Program Officer of ACE Charity, Hassana Shaibu noted during her presentation that education is Multi-facet and meant to help a child to navigate an unknown society successfully.
Skill based learning helps young people to get equipped for future challenges. It helps our students learn creativity rather than copy and paste methods.
TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION.
Executive Director. AREAI, Gideon Olanrewaju noted that one of the factors of SDG is embracing technology in teaching and technology can only amplify the quality of education and teaching but cannot replace the services of teaching administrators. Most advanced countries of the world are using multilingual AI to solve many teaching issues while Nigeria is still struggling with basic AI knowledge. We need technology to solve 21st century education problems in Nigeria. The future of education lies in embracing technology to empower students and educators.
PANEL DISCUSSION ONE
Many Nigeria schools focus on theoretical knowledge which do not translate into practical skills required for the job markets and creation of collective prosperity. To provide viable approaches of changing the narrative, Femi Aderibigbe, Dr Naomi Andrew and Ayo Bayere spoke on The Roles of School Curriculum in Leading core competence and transferable skills in a classroom.
Femi Aderibigbe noted that innovations enable students to solve problems. He proposed ownership of our education system that conveys a platform to discuss our education future and reshape.
Dr Naomi Andrew said the challenge of structured curriculum where students’ special needs are not taken care of is part of the gaps in school curriculum where all focus is on delivery of lesson notes which is not prepared to meet students’ needs but restricted to classroom teaching.
The practical to theory learning teaching model where students engage in extracurricular activities is highly recommended.
According to Ayo Bayere, the Government cannot tackle the issues facing our education sector alone, therefore we need to take ownership of our education sector for better results. To improve our education sector, we must take school evaluation and monitoring seriously, and collaborate with stakeholders and teachers to introduce skill-based learning along with knowledge-based learning.
THE BIG EDU-CONVO
An impactful event at the summit was the Big Edu Convo which brought together leaders from the education sector to share knowledgeable ideas on improving education in Nigeria. In this article, we provide highlights of the Transforming Education Summit hosted by Dr. Dorcas Mokikan. The conversation was structured to answer the question: What is the real purpose of Education?
According to Mukhtar Halilu Modibbo, one of the purposes of education is to acquire knowledge and achieve personal development. What should be the target of the government in curriculum design is that Curriculum should be designed or developed with inputs from educators like teachers/ academicians.
Frances Okeke proposed that one of the purposes of education is that it should create a good society and equip individuals to compete globally. What is missing in our education system is that our curriculum is outdated, and it has become a place of internship where students learn but nowhere to practice.
PANEL DISCUSSION TWO
A report by PLAN INTERNATIONAL shows that Nigeria girls, despite their educational attainment frequently face issues like low self-esteem, limited negotiation skills and inadequate problem-solving abilities. And in order to address these issues we must redefine the purpose of education. As panelists, Mr. Kenneth Akpan, Funke Obafemi and Bukky Shonibare shared solutions on the topic titled: Beyond access to Education, Real barriers impending girls’ Self-Actualization that Education can deliver.
Kenneth Akpan proposed that, to use education to liberate girl children Oxfam is committed to gender equality. Education to women is giving them the right to know what is right. But girl children are limited to stereotypes and inability to get exposure. NGOs can work with the government in curriculum redesign by working collaboratively with all sense of responsibility activity to tackle the bottleneck for curriculum redesign.
Funke Obafemi highlighted that mentorship can be of great help to girl child to become who she is aspiring to become. And it starts from home where students learn the act of integrity from their parents. Mentorship also helps them to build confidence and allow them grow. One of the key factors to quality education is to help girl child identify themselves and discover her talents. Parents and teachers need to help them find relevant skill and emotional balance
Bukky Shonibare, Executive Director of Invictus Africa said girl child faces challenges after completing her education because going to school is not the solution to some challenges like employment discrimination and political barriers to women. She recommended to capture the new reality about our school curriculum is that there must be regular curriculum review which can be interval- long-term – holistic review. Girlchild can combine knowledge-based with skill-based learning.
After an eventful engagement of transforming education, we strongly believe that there is an opportunity to improve access to the quality of education in Nigeria by moving from theory-based learning to innovative skills approach.
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