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By Gabriel Dike
At least 50 students from different departments of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Lagos, are participating in a summer school sponsored by the European Union (EU).
The students, who are mainly in the 200 level, would be joined later by another set of 100 other students for the three-year programme meant to sharpen their skills, learning an international language and their culture.
The summer school, which is the brainchild of EU-Africa Connect, is themed “Bringing Europe Closer to Africa,” under the initiative of the UNILAG-Jean Monnet Module Programme.
It involves various scholars from Nigeria, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Bulgaria, Italy and other EU countries, assembled to take on the students about the different countries.
Specifically, the summer school would focus on the students’ understanding of Europe, connecting Europe to Africa, policy research and data analytics, and EU Council Parliament simulation.
The organizers said the UNILAG Jean Monnet Module Programme was a three-year programme with three specific stand-alone summer school, training workshop and conference programmes for promoting and enhancing a greater understanding of European culture, values and studies in UNILAG.
“UNILAG-Jean Monnet Module revolves around three pillars: teaching, policy research and capacity-building. While teaching the fundamentals is important, the emphasis will also be on research aimed at promoting enlightenment, awareness and understanding of EU policy and systems, as well as capacity-building to contribute to policy design and advocacy.”
It stressed that participants would be drawn primarily from departments where students have had little or no direct exposure to EU studies, “the module focuses on training young undergraduates who have little exposure and background in EU studies in their traditional academic program but will have opportunities in the future to relate to and interact with EU systems and institutions both locally and internationally in engineering, sciences, law, and education, among other fields.
According to the organizers, at the end of the program, there would be publications in both local and international media to publicize the program’s impact and possible integration of the outcomes in other institutions and establishments in Nigeria and Africa.
“It is anticipated that by the end of the program, a new group of EU policy advocates in Africa will have been formed. In addition, a framework for scaling up the impact to the national and continental levels would have been developed through the University of Lagos’ three-year Jean Monnet Module program.”
Coordinator of the programme, Prof. Olufemi Saibu, said the summer school is about exposing UNILAG 200-level students to what Europe looks it, stating, “every year many students run to Europe and don’t seems to know the country.’’
Saibu, a Professor of Economics at UNILAG, said programme would attract 150 students in the 200 level for three years but took off with 50 students and by July 2023 another summer school would hold.
“At the end of the programme, we will give them the certificate of participation. We are building their capacity to take advantage when they have the opportunity to travel to Europe. It is not about a certificate but acquisition of skills and knowledge of Europe.’’
A German facilitator, Dr. Gerald Heusing in the Department of European Language of UNILAG, told The Education Report that the students were active and participated in the class German language.
He said facilitators from the different departments have been invited to take on the students and that the idea is to bring Europe closer to the students.
One of the participants, Priscillia Oboh, a 200-level Mass Communication student, described her experience as great with a good conducive learning environment and wonderful facilitators.
She added: “What attracted me is the aspect of public speaking, skills acquisition, and how to read for the international audience, noting, “our facilitators want us to learn and understand the European languages.”
Another participant, Mas’ud El-Mubeen, 200 level student of Medical Laboratory Science said his expectation about the summer school has been met with quality experts.
El-Mubeen explained that the students have been taught about European history, languages, and the gains of associating with the various countries.
