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Gabriel Dike
Concerned Parents Educators (CPE) and some education stakeholders have appealed to the Federal Government to involve relevant bodies in the review of the nation’s education curriculum.
The stakeholders and CPE members acknowledged that the current curriculum is faulty thus it requires a major overhaul to meet the current trend in the World.
The demand for the involvement of major players in the education sector during the review of curriculum was made in Lagos at “Save Education in Nigeria Dialogue” organised by CPE which attracted former Lagos Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah Sosan, school owners, key stakeholders, state Coordinators of CPE and pupils from different schools.
Chief Executive Officer of Brookehouse Educational Consults, Lagos, Dr. Ifueko Thomas called on the government to include relevant stakeholders in the review of the curriculum.
Dr. Thomas, who spoke on “How do we create a curriculum that serves the need of the society”, said those that engage graduates are not involved in curriculum review, noting ‘’we need to sit down to know the kind of graduates we are producing for the industry.
Said he “Using British and American curriculum alone is not good. We don’t have a Nigerian curriculum. Is our curriculum relevant to society needs? We need to review our curriculum to meet the current trend.
“All stakeholders must be involved in reviewing our curriculum. All professionals must be included to produce a relevant curriculum. CPE should tell policymakers the kind of curriculum we need in our education system”.
The founder of CPE, Mrs. Yinka Ogunde called on the government to convey a curriculum conference that will involve key stakeholders and relevant professional bodies to fine-tune the obsolete curriculum.
She disclosed that CPE members in 21 states are involved in rescuing the education sector and urged the government to create a teacher development programme that will improve service delivery in the classroom.
Ogunde warned against cutting corners in the education system, adding “in education, there is no short cut. Parent and teachers are also involved in the cutting corner syndrome”
Former Lagos Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah Sosan, said the gathering is to find solutions to the numerous problems facing the sector and acknowledged that CPE has been going round to enlighten people about the state of affairs in the education sector.
Sosan lauded CPE for the campaign to save education in the country because they know that without education, there can’t be development.
“With education, one can do the right things. Without education, no progress for an individual or a country. Why do we have problems in the sector? Education promotes healthy living, transforms people, makes people aspire to greater height”, she stated.
In his remark, President of Association formidable Educational Development (AFED), Mr. Emmanuel Orji said the discussion that will take Nigeria’s education system out of the shamble is just starting with CPE spread heading the campaign.
Orji explained that the current security challenges confronting the country are as a result of the illiteracy level of those involved.
Mr. Rotimi Eyitayo, who spoke on “How do we reposition the teaching profession and the mindset of teachers”, said Nigeria must fill the knowledge-gap, bridge the exposure divide among teachers, create a new identity for the profession and formulate new teaching philosophy.
Eyitayo suggested a change in the outlook in addressing issues of teachers, change the dress code for teachers and export educators abroad, stressing “we can export teachers like we supply doctors to the UK”.
Other speakers include Praise Fowowe, who encouraged parents to work hand in hand with schools to nurture and educate the Nigerian child.
