….. Calls for academics in tertiary institutions to update their teaching skills
Nigeria’s former Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili has called for immediate reform of public basic education system, in order to address what she described as depreciating standard of foundational education in the country.
Ezekwesili stated this while delivering the 30th Convocation Lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) titled “Education System and Youth Development” on Saturday.
She equally used the opportunity to challenge the higher degree graduates to use the knowledge acquired in various fields of specialization to lead the crusade for the much needed reform in the public basic education.
“We don’t have a functional education system these days because the education is not programmed to meet the needs of the country”, she lamented
She expressed concern that nine out of every ten children cannot achieve proficiency in literacy at the basic education level, saying the ugly trend must be reversed by scholars and other stakeholders in the education sector, so as to lay a solid foundation for quality products that would be useful at both secondary and tertiary levels of education
While drawing a link between a functional education system and security, she attributed the current challenges of insecurity in the country to lack of access to functional public primary education by the children of poor parents who can’t afford the quality of the basic education being enjoyed by the children of the middle class in private schools
She opined that a comprehensive and holistic review of the curriculum backed up with adequate funding by all the tiers of government to provide qualitative and affordable education to the masses is necessary to reverse the ugly trend.
She equally challenged academics in tertiary institutions to update their teaching skills and include their students in reviewing the current curriculum to reflect realities of the present needs in various fields
The former Minister then charged the 2,823 graduates and post graduates including 16 Post Graduate Diploma holders, 215 Master’s Degree holders and 113 PhD holders to prepare themselves for global competition in highly challenging environment
The graduands were charged to keep acquiring knowledge and skills that could improve their competitiveness at the global stage.
The Visitor to the University , President Bola Ahmed Tinubu represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe, expressed the commitment of government towards ensuring provision of quality education to the the children.
He used the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the government to a renewed hope as reflected in his declaration of emergency in the agricultural sector , pledging to work closely with relevant stakeholders including FUNAAB and research institutions to actualize the agenda of food security in the country
In his speech, FUNAAB Vice – Chancellor, Prof. Olusola Babatunde Kehinde equally called on the graduands to be partners in the development of their alma mater by complimenting the infrastructural development in the institution.
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