By Damiete Braide
The push to revamp primary and secondary education in Nigeria to make it more functional in preparing pupils with relevant skills to compete with the global world received a boost as the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) approved its first indigenous tools for learning Entrepreneurship and skills acquisition at basic school levels.
The Entrepreneurship Education tools were developed by Business Matters Incubators’ Catch Them Young (BMI CTY) Initiative; which is meant to groom young entrepreneurs and equip them with the skills and mindset needed for success in the business world.
The founder of BMI, Nnamdi Felix Unachukwu has been advocating for a review of the current school curriculum for a functional one.
In May 2024, the organization brought together several stakeholders in the education and business sector to launch its BMI CTY Initiative, where the entrepreneurship learning tools were first displayed to the public.
Unachukwu said after the launch, it continued with the advocacy and the Federal Ministry of Education bought the idea to transform the education sector and also bring changes to the current school curriculum with the infusion of Entrepreneurship and vocational studies into the Nigerian school curriculum.
According to him, the Entrepreneurship education tools that BMI CTY developed over the years has been accessed, approved, and recommended by NERDC as the first indigenous tools for learning Entrepreneurship and skills acquisition in Nigeria at both primary and basic secondary levels.
He disclosed that the organization also designed a Train the Trainer (TTT) tool to train teachers in one month and get them ready to teach the pupils in classes.
Unachukwu also explained that it is setting up a skills lab model to be replicated and introduced across schools and communities where practical skills and vocations can be taught by pupils, which supports the National Council on Education (NCE) plan for every child upon graduation from primary and secondary school to learn two skills.
The BMI helmsman said the organization is currently discussing with some state governments to introduce entrepreneurship education in their various state and that some schools have started using the tools in classes with outstanding results and participation from the pupils.
He stressed that Entrepreneurship education in basic and secondary school will not only equip the pupils but will have a long-term impact on the economy and the country at large, adding, “the era of massive unemployment will be over as this is the only solution to Nigerian unemployment.”
He further noted: “The challenges of youths taking up criminality and other negative vices propelled by the get quick rich syndrome due to lack of jobs will be tackled because a solution has come that is sure to work if rightly encouraged and supported.”