The recent outcry by stakeholders in the educational sector of the nation is one that cannot be taken with levity as it directly mirrors the apparent decline in the standard of learning of students which has a significant effect on the nation's growth and productivity.
The archaic state of the educational curriculum is a glaring example of the rot the system is presently being buried underneath and this stagnation cuts across from the primary level all the way to the tertiary level of education.
The Director of UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education recently made an appeal for the revamping and updating of the current curriculum as a means of tackling the education crisis the nation faces.
Due to the outdated curriculum currently being disseminated to our children especially in the public schools, the nation is stuck with an ill prepared and technically bereft potential workforce that cannot be at par with global standards and have little to offer in terms of relevant knowledge and actionable skill sets.
The effect of this crippling situation is a lot more apparent at the university level, with students wasting valuable time and resources on subjects or courses that have little or no application today. Computer Science undergrads in federal universities are stuck learning obsolete programming languages like FORTRAN and COBOL while their counterparts outside the shores of the country are being tutored on advanced programming languages like Java and Python. This type of learning disparity ends up producing programmers that cannot produce value at the level required in the employment market thus rendering them unfit for hire which in turn contributes to the teeming number of unemployed graduates in the country.
This challenge plagues students in other fields of learning and has greatly contributed to the steep decline in our educational standards and if it remains unaddressed, it has the potential to send the nation into the dark ages while the rest of the world leaves us behind in our state of stagnation.
There must be a combined effort between The Ministry of Education and relevant administrators at all levels of learning to set up a progressive blueprint tailored towards upscaling the current curriculum in a bid to match global standards and to equip the teaching staff with the requisite training they require to effectively deliver a revamped curriculum in an efficient manner.
Additionally, a lot of dated subjects and courses must be either retrofitted to align with current demands or completely abandoned for more progressive and relevant ones. There need to be a proper evaluation of present economic realities and workforce demands to ascertain bachelorette programs that may need to be axed for more pertinent programs that would lead to increased employability of graduands which in turn will improve the nation's productivity exponentially.
The days of students spending four tedious years in undergrad programs with no present-day application must become a practice of the past. STEM based and IT programs need to be prioritized from the secondary level of learning with emphasis laid on the adoption of courses like critical thinking and entrepreneurial studies.
If we desire to own the future and become a hub for technological advancements and innovations, we must begin to sow the seeds through next level educational development and a world class curriculum system that can stand toe to toe with global giants of the world.
The nation cannot afford to idly watch the steady decline of our education system hence the call for a state of emergency in the sector.
The future of this great nation is at stake and we need to act now!
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