- Advocates stronger synergy for both parties
- Lawmaker proposes jumbo pay for teachers
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Minister of Education Prof Tahir Mamman has linked the “perceived unemployability” of some graduates of Nigerian institutions to poor/weak nexus between the tertiary institutions and the industries, as regards their needs in terms of capacity and competence of graduates.
He said there is a high number of unemployed graduates in Nigeria because the quality of education they are getting from the tertiary institutions does not connect them to the industries, hence the complaints that institutions are churning out graduates who are unemployable.
The Minister who stated this at a one-day National Stakeholders’ Workshop on the development of a roadmap for the Nigerian education sector (2023-2027), in Abuja, on Thursday, vowed that the era of producing half-baked graduates has ended.
He said the reason for the workshop was to harvest the inputs of all the stakeholders towards the development of an educational roadmap that would solve problems, and create jobs and wealth, and not for the purposes of acquiring certificates.
He said the President gave them the mandate, and they have a few days to come up with what would be used to reset the education sector starting from the basic to the tertiary.
The Minister, however, reminded the participants that education is on the concurrent legislative list, hence the need for state governments to do their part so they can collectively address the challenges of basic education.
Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, in his remarks, emphasized the need for gender mainstreaming in the roadmap so that Nigeria would have the benefit of a balanced education system.
He said: “Such recognition is of great importance to us. However, I must also add my voice to the debate about the inability of our youths to gain employment after going through the rigours of academic programmes, which is gradually building disinterest in the pursuit of education.”
Sununu, however, said this trend must be curtailed to make Nigerian education responsive to everyday realities and beneficial to the individual as well as the nation.
Meanwhile, a lawmaker, Hon. Abubakar Fulata, has suggested that teachers should ultimately be the ones to receive jumbo pay, and not politicians or people in other sectors of the economy.
Fulata who is the House of Representatives Committee Chairman on University Education, suggested that no teachers at primary, secondary and university teachers should earn below N200,000, N500,000 and one million, respectively, as monthly remuneration if Nigeria wants to achieve quality education services for its people.
He said: “If you want quality education you must pay the teachers well to teach our children very well. Teachers must also be encouraged as it is obtained in the other climes.”
He expressed support for a state of emergency to be declared in the education sector, to enable the government and all stakeholders to have a sincere discussion on the education sector that might result in a new commitment of, at least, 25 or 30 per cent of the national budget to education.