From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Teesas Education, a pioneering and innovative education technology (EdTech) company, has advocated for leadership and social-emotional skills as well as digital education in Nigerian schools.
The call was made by Mr. Osayi Izedonmwen, founder and chairman of Teesas Education, in Abuja, when the EdTech company brought together owners of leading schools, top school managers and stakeholders in the education sector to discuss strategies to prepare children for work in the future.
Izedonmwen said: “Teesas Leader in Me (LIM) is a whole-school transformation program delivered in partnership with FranklinCovey Education, a global performance improvement company.
The program based on the ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is integrated with teaching core academic subjects including Mathematics, English and Science through the Teesas Education App.’
The keynote speaker, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, a former Commissioner for Education, Lagos State, said that the Teesas LIM program includes topics like personal leadership, which teaches children to take responsibility, leading to less disciplinary problems.
She also highlighted other topics covered by the programme like win-win solutions and sharpens the saw. “IQ gets you a job, but emotional intelligence helps you keep it. Emotional intelligence can be taught and mastered because habits are things we continually do,” she said.
Justin Permenter, Regional Director of FranklinCovey Education, in his remarks, said that research suggests that by 2050, nearly half of the world’s children under 18 will be on the African continent. “While it would be an exciting time for Africa, it is time for Africa to prepare for that future.”
Permenter stated that the model of schools hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years even though the 21st century challenges are different, adding that there’s been a shift from the industrial age to the knowledge age, while stating that analytical thinking, creative thinking, technological literacy, empathy and active listening, leadership and social influence are some of the top skills identified by the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs 2023 Report.
He added that McKinsey’s Future of Work Skills Report released in 2023 identified 56 foundational skills which can be grouped into four categories: cognitive, interpersonal, self-leadership and digital skills.
“Leader in Me addresses school development in three aspects: culture, leadership and academics. While the ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is a foundation for the program, it rests on five paradigms namely: leadership, potential, change, motivation and education,” he said.
Speaking during a panel session, Dr. Abimbola Ogundere, a global leadership expert, coach and CEO, LAIT Africa emphasised the need to implement socio-emotional learning in schools using the Teesas LIM because of the lack of empathy, disrespect, bullying and disregard for authority by some students.
“Children who are not brought up properly cannot be functional adults. Parents must celebrate their children for being empathetic as much as they celebrate them for scoring good grades,” she said.
Another speaker, Mrs. Oluwatosin Oladipo, Head of Schools at SafeHands Schools stressed the need to instill empathy in children and expressed delight that the Teesas LIM program provides a framework that enables schools to do so.