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By Chinenye Anuforo
Ashoka and partners, including the Lagos State Ministry of Education, Teach for Nigeria, United Way Nigeria and influencers in the education sector, as well as co-leaders of the “Everyone a Changemaker” movement, have unveiled plans to empower millions of schoolchildren and young people in Lagos State and Nigeria with skills to thrive in the 21st century.
With its groundbreaking initiative, Changemaker Teachers Activation Programme (CTEACH) in education sector in Nigeria, Ashoka plans to continue to deepen its roots and expand its impacts of change in the country.
CTEACH is a transformative experience and a comprehensive learning-teaching solution, one that empowers teachers/educators, students, young people, families, communities and stakeholders in the education ecosystem as they take lifechanging steps on the journey of mastering empathy and practicing changemaking. It focuses on interactive learning, life-experience sharing, changemaker skills (Empathy, Collaborative Teamwork, New Leadership, and Changemaking), individual and group exercises, practical tools tailored to the Nigerian context and steps for activating change-makers.
At the end of a three-day CTEACH activation programme in Lagos, organised by Ashoka Africa, vice-president, empathy, Ashoka Africa, CTEACH lead, Angelou Ezeilo, noted that goal of the programme was to activate CTEACH so that the stakeholders could internalize change-making and integrate it into their classrooms.
“We also want to shift the mindset of teachers so that they can reconnect to why they became teachers, and helping them to understand their power as change-makers so that they can empower students to make change in the world.
“We want teachers to collaborate, to work together, so that they can promote the change-making culture in classrooms all across Nigeria, starting here in Lagos State. We need everyone to be problem solver, critical thinkers, be able to adapt with the things happening,” she said.
Senior director, Ashoka, Vipin Thekk, noted that the programme was meant for children to succeed in this new world and have the master of skill of being a change maker. “For these children to become change makers, we need their teachers, parents, principals to become change-makers. We need to help teachers to discover their own power to become change-makers, then they integrate the change-making into the classroom. Once these teacher discover it, they become an influence to others,” he said.
Permanent secretary for the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Abayomi Abolaji, who was represented by the director, Basic Educational Service, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Lagos State, Adeyemi Adebayo, noted that the education ministry was harnessing all resources available to ensure quality education.
He urged all stakeholders to consider the future of the young ones as the world is changing.
“These children’s interest has changed. The way they learn has changed; so, teachers as well must adapt to change. They want to be creators of works and teachers should bear that in mind. We must, therefore, vary our curriculum delivery to address the interest of the children and the teachers, parents should support the children.
“The change we are talking about is that every teacher, school owners, proprietors, principals, government officials should look inward and deliver education in a new way we have never done it before,” he pointed out.
