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Tag: curriculum?

  • Overhaul finance curriculum, Elumelu urges schools

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group Chairman, Mr Tony Elumelu has called for the overhaul of the finance training curriculum to reflect current technological influences.

    Elumelu, while delivering the Guest Lecture of the Faculty of Management Sciences, Lagos State University (LASU) titled: “The future of finance – Technology at play” on Wednesday, said it was not enough for tertiary institutions to train students in the techniques of traditional accounting without exposing them to realities of technological influences on accounting practice.

    The entrepreneur, who was represented by the bank’s Executive Director, Lagos West, Ayoku Liadi, said: “The academia needs to graduate from imparting traditional technical accounting and finance skills to embracing modern technologies in the delivery of both technical and soft skills needed to build a global finance professional of the future.

    “I am not certain if the finance and accounting graduates of today are familiar with modern financial software packages, including global accounting and financial reporting standards. Have they been imbued with ready-to-market soft skills like leadership, communication, commercial acumen, flexibility/openness to change and strategic vision?

    “If not, I will like to propose an overhaul of the curriculum to accommodate these. The academia should go beyond churning out finance and accounting graduates on a yearly basis to building ready-to-market finance professionals thoroughly equipped for modern finance functions.”

    Elumelu, who is also the founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation, which supports entrepreneurship startups across Africa, said with technology replacing basic financing, the finance professional that would excel in the future must be quick to retool and adapt to changes.

    “Traditional knowledge of finance is getting stale in today’s business world and indeed there is dire need for retooling our skills if we must remain relevant n tomorrow’s financial world. Technology is fast replacing the basics of finance. Financial reporting is increasingly being automated, just as data analytics is demystifying performance analysis. Tomorrow’s finance professionals must have capabilities for business intelligence and cognitive analysis. We must apprise ourselves of the most recent technology and continue to retool our skills to remain relevant today and into the future,” he said.

    Chairman of the occasion, Dr Rotimi Oladele, the Executive Secretary, Institute of Entrepreneurship, praised Elumelu for his contribution to entrepreneurship in Africa, describing him as a global brand of the rarest value.  He said LASU would benefit from its collaboration with the entrepreneur.

    “No doubt, Tony Elumelu is not just a Nigerian of rare value to Nigeria, but a Premium African of rarer value and of course a Global Brand of rarest value. Tony Elumelu today as an ultrapreneur is known all over for breeding entrepreneurs and start-ups in thousands and with millions of dollars ceaselessly in support for sustainability.

    “We believe LASU partnering with Elumelu could be the best testimonial of a befitting support to the most multi-cultural and multi-tribal university in Nigeria. The profile of LASU staff and studentship speak for this fact,” he said.

    The LASU Vice-Chancellor, Prof Lanre Fagbohun, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof Oyedamola Oke, thanked UBA for its support and sponsorship.

    Highpoint of the event was the investiture of the Vice-Chancellor, guest speaker, and Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences, Prof B. Yusuf as Fellows of the Institute of Entrepreneurs of Nigeria.

  • NGO seeks inclusion of cancer awareness in curriculum

    A non-Governmental Organisation, the OCI Foundation, has said plans have been concluded to introduce breast and cervical cancer awareness campaign into the academic curriculum of senior secondary schools across Nigeria.

    The President of the organisation, Dr Chris Ifediora, made the disclosure at a campaign on cancer held at Stella Maris Girls’ Secondary School, Umuleri, Anambra State, with over 1000 secondary school girls in attendance.

    He said the proposal would be developed with support from the Harvard University Medical School, United States of America, as well as some international bodies in Australia and Nigeria.

    Ifediora explained that the body decided to champion the cause among young women to ensure they avoided certain living habits capable of attracting the disease in their bodies.

    Describing as worrisome, the alarming figures by the World Health Organisation (WHO), that over 8000 Nigerian women out of about 14,000 diagnosed with cervical cancer would die annually, the President called for urgent action to stem the tide.

    He said: “We intend to start with schools in Anambra State and will be approaching the appropriate authorities to work out the details and modalities. We also intend to engage religious institutions so that we can find interventions that are not only sustainable, but socially and culturally acceptable.

    “We agree that this is an ambitious and potentially daunting undertaking, and can be quite expensive, but we really have no option if we are to be effective in saving the lives of our women.

    “Sadly, while their counterparts in most developed parts of the world receive free and universal screenings to prevent and detect these cancers early, our own women in Nigeria and in many other developing countries, have no such preventive systems in place.

    “We, therefore, decided that we cannot continue to wait for our governments to take the initiative. We should also not just sit by and ignore the challenges we face.

    “OCI Foundation will continue to fight for our people, by giving them the tools they need. We admit that these tools may not be perfect and may not be the best. However, for now, they are the best we have.

    “We can continue to accept this unfortunate trend, or just pray over it or worse still, ignore it, and hope that it goes away. Alternatively, we can stand, and fight.”

  • Groups push for sex education curriculum in schools

    Education as a Vaccine, (EVA) in conjunction with Girls’ Power Initiative Nigeria, GPI, and the Nigeria Youth Advocates Group, YAG, has declared its intention to advocate for proper sex education across Nigerian schools.

    EVA made the pledge  at the Dissemination of Situation Analysis report of the State of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Adolescents and Young people in Ondo, Kaduna, and Cross River States held at Abuja on Tuesday.

    The Deputy Director, Ondo State Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mrs. Olukemi Okukpe, during an interview, assured that the Ondo state government is making great efforts to implement into law a sex education bill.

    “We are currently putting together a bill to do with the adolescent and youth program, which will definitely incorporate the awareness of contraceptives,” she said.

    “It will be part of the curriculum in schools, because we already have the National Family Life and HIV Education (FLHE) curriculum in schools.

    “A major challenge is the private schools because most private schools are established by ultra-religious proprietors who see sex education as a taboo and not the necessity it is.

    “We are working with the Child Protection Officer of the state Ministry of Women Affairs, some of the stakeholders in the state, and more to draft the policy, so we are waiting for it to be passed hopefully soon.”

    The sexual health and rights groups shared their findings after conducting analyses into the current state of adolescents and young persons to ascertain the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in various communities across the country.

    The groups also called for the federal and state governments and also traditional and religious leaders to develop policies and laws to address the SRH needs of adolescents and young persons and allocating proper budgets to the cause.

    The analysis also cited various factors affecting SRH for adolescents as being social factors such as religious doctrines, cultural factors such as early child marriages and forced marriages, economic factors such as poverty, and poor political frameworks and policies in the states studied.

    According to their findings, 80% of adolescents and young persons in Cross River state, 17% in Kaduna, and 69% in Ondo reported to be engaged in high-risk sexual behaviors.

    Also, 32% of women aged 15-49 in Cross River state have experienced some form of Female Genital Mutilation, ranking third highest in the South-South region of Nigeria.

    Director, Educational Resource Center, Cross River State Ministry of Education, Barr. Francis Oyije, in an interview affirmed that the state government is aimed at creating awareness for the various sexual epidemics such as female circumcision and sexual violence in the state.

    In Kaduna State, which is yet to adopt the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act and yet to pass the bill against Gender-Based Violence, the research showed a correlation between high rates of girls out of school and high rates of early marriage.

    A CSO representative in Kaduna observed that ‘the norms and other cultural practices limit the adolescents and young persons from accessing factual information about their sexual reproductive health and rights.’

  • Expand entrepreneurship curriculum, says expert

    Mrs Dayo Ilori, one of the speakers at this year Vision 2020 Career Awareness seminar organised by Lonadek Oil and Gas, has said entrepreneurship training in schools should be beyond acquisition of skills for small business.

    Speaking on the theme: “Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship in STEM” at the event held at the Yaba College of Technology, Ilori said with much emphasis placed on entrepreneurship education by schools, there are still loopholes which have limited pupils mindset from the core relevance of entrepreneurship.

    “A lot of schools have introduced entrepreneurship education but what exactly is being taught in the curriculum of entrepreneurship? What I see a lot of schools teach in that area is more like skills acquisition.

    “Entrepreneurship is beyond having a small business. This is what schools do, preparing students to own small business which eventually are not sustainable. Real entrepreneurship should be start-ups which can be scalable.

    “For instance, if you have desire to own a fruit Juice company and you start producing a little quantity of it. You must be ready to expand; you must be ready to scale that business.  You must know how to expand the scope of your business, what you need to put in place to enable such expansion. So entrepreneurship is not being taught at that level of owning big business like Dangote, Guinness, Unilever. It should be taught like large conglomerate, investment beyond the sphere of just having a small business,” she said.

    The seminar hosted particularly SSS 1 – 3 students, university and polytechnic undergraduates as well as NYSC corps members.   The students also learnt about scholarship opportunities available in the U.S. to deserving students by Education USA, US Consulate.

    There was also a science project competition which had a public school winning the top slot among 11 school participants.

    Lagos Model Senior College, Ikosi won the first place with its project on water level alarm indicator, Apostolic Faith Secondary School which exhibited a Low Cost High Efficiency Inverter using an old UPS and automobile battery, won the second position, while Shesfun Comprehensive College which displayed  a Simple Vacuum Cleaner came third.

    Convener, Vision 2020 Dr Ibilola Amao, said the programme had empowered 80,000 youths since its inception in 2006. She called on the Federal Government to encourage the promotion of STEM role models, mentors and coaches, empower STEM teachers and lecturers, promote science projects, community development initiatives, as well as research and development.

  • Tech-U partners engineers on Curriculum

    The Technical University (TECH-U), Ibadan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE, Oluyole Branch, Ibadan) and the Automation and Engineering Academy (AEA)to strengthen its education curriculum.

    Apart from providing a framework for deeper and stronger relationship between the university and the NSE, the MoU would provide opportunities for hands-on experience for Tech-U students while it will also enable professional associations and the industry to have regular inputs in the curriculum review of the university.

    Speaking at the signing, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ayobami Salami said the pact would provide TECH-U students with industry interaction while still in school.

    “Our students do not have to wait till after graduation before they interact with professional mentors whose contributions will complement our academic offerings thereby giving them a true perspective of what the situation out there is before they even get there.

    “We intend to cultivate and produce graduates whose training while in the University affords them ample opportunity to have direct contact with real rather than imaginary challenges that impede economic and social development of the society and whose acquired competences and experiences propel them to generate science and technology innovations to solve problems.”

    Salami said the aim of the university is to produce thinkers and innovators who can compete with their peers on the world stage.

    The Chairman, NSE Ibadan Branch, Mr Adedamola Falade-Fatila described the agreement between the Society and TECH-U as a commendable effort to bridge the gap that exists between the town and gown.

    He called on stakeholders to make deliberate efforts to bridge the employability gap.

    “It is our desire to reach out to every stakeholder and make our presence felt in all that we do in Engineering”.

    Ademola Agoro, NSE Oluyole Branch chairman, said the NSE would look at areas it would work with TECH-U to solve some of the critical problems.

    “The university will handle the academic part while we will work on the professional part,” he said.

    While expressing his firm belief in the pact, Basir Adewale Ikotun, the Chief Executive Officer, AEA said with his Academy’s endorsement of the MoU, the actualisation had started.

  • Tech-U partners engineers on Curriculum

    The Technical University (TECH-U), Ibadan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE, Oluyole Branch, Ibadan) and the Automation and Engineering Academy (AEA)to strengthen its education curriculum.

    Apart from providing a framework for deeper and stronger relationship between the university and the NSE, the MoU would provide opportunities for hands-on experience for Tech-U students while it will also enable professional associations and the industry to have regular inputs in the curriculum review of the university.

    Speaking at the signing, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ayobami Salami said the pact would provide TECH-U students with industry interaction while still in school.

    “Our students do not have to wait till after graduation before they interact with professional mentors whose contributions will complement our academic offerings thereby giving them a true perspective of what the situation out there is before they even get there.

    “We intend to cultivate and produce graduates whose training while in the University affords them ample opportunity to have direct contact with real rather than imaginary challenges that impede economic and social development of the society and whose acquired competences and experiences propel them to generate science and technology innovations to solve problems.”

    Salami said the aim of the university is to produce thinkers and innovators who can compete with their peers on the world stage.

    The Chairman, NSE Ibadan Branch, Mr Adedamola Falade-Fatila described the agreement between the Society and TECH-U as a commendable effort to bridge the gap that exists between the town and gown.

    He called on stakeholders to make deliberate efforts to bridge the employability gap.

    “It is our desire to reach out to every stakeholder and make our presence felt in all that we do in Engineering”.

    Ademola Agoro, NSE Oluyole Branch chairman, said the NSE would look at areas it would work with TECH-U to solve some of the critical problems.

    “The university will handle the academic part while we will work on the professional part,” he said.

    While expressing his firm belief in the pact, Basir Adewale Ikotun, the Chief Executive Officer, AEA said with his Academy’s endorsement of the MoU, the actualisation had started.

  • ‘Integrate HR in curriculum now’

    A non-governmental organisation, Support Bridges Initiative, has urged government to restructure secondary school curriculum with career and HR needs.

    The NGO laments that most secondary school students fail to understand the requisite skills they need to rub shoulders in an already saturated labour market. This leaves them either completely ignorant or ill equipped to confront such challenging undertaking when the need eventually arises in future.

    This was disclosed by the NGO which celebrated its 12th silver jubilee anniversary at Dolphin Senior Secondary School, Lagos Island on Thursday last week. The event was themed:  ‘Matching Secondary school curriculum with career and HR needs in Nigeria.’

    Support Bridges Initiative was established in 2005 to cater for teenagers between ages 13-19, by helping them develop their talents and empowering them to make career choice.  Generally, the idea is to bridge the gap in order to enable students make right contributions.

    Mr Niyi Obaremi, a member of the Support Bridges Initiative, enjoined government to partner with the NGO in the aforementioned task by making provision for them in the curriculum.

    He said: “Government should ensure that what sells in the market, that is the HR market, such as how to attend interviews, job applications etc that are not in the school curricula are provided to students. There is the need to provide skills and capacities to compete for positions when they leave school.

    “It is also important for school authorities to keep pace with what is going on in the HR in companies, and government establishments. What are the requirements of these establishments? What is the population, so they can look at those things and structure the school curriculum to fit them therefore empowering the children in that way,” Obaremi.

    Mrs Yinka Ogunde, of Edumark, an education consulting firm, presented a talk on how to match secondary school curriculum with career and HR needs for societal benefit.

    “The thing is to ensure that very early in the stages of development, our children are mentored and guided to achieve their aspirations, to know their true potentials and achieve those potentials in life before said Mrs Ogunde.

    Ogunde who was a keynote speaker, emphasised education as the’ best gift your parents can give to you,’ urging parents not to compromised that role.

    The event also featured with Mathematics and IQ competition by senior secondary schools as well as spelling bees by the junior arms. In the end, Abel Akanyato from Falomo Junior High School won the third position in spelling bee. Second position was claimed by Reis Ridwan from Okesuna Junior secondary school, while Abdiuganiu Nurudeen from EkoAkete Junior Secondary School dwarfed the duo.

     

  •  Make environmental education part of standard curriculum

    An appeal has gone to Federal Government to make Environmental Education part of standard education curriculum.

    A renowned Professor of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, Prof. Toyin Arowolo made the plea while delivering the 55th Inaugural Lectures of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) on Wednesday.

    His paper is titled, “Environmental Degradation: Mortgaging Our Future for Today’s Gain”.

    Arowolo lamented the threats and extent of degradation to which the Nigerian environment is being subjected.

    He blamed the degradation of the environment on inadequate advocacy programme that will bring the populace on board as major stakeholders in the protection of the environment.

    The Inaugural lecturer urged the government at all levels to make environmental education part of standard education curriculum, like mathematics.

    According to him, this is imperative because there is an urgent need for greater public education so that the populace will fully understands the importance of halting pollution.

    He said environmental issues are part of daily living, therefore their knowledge and awareness must be reduced to messages and languages understood by all.

    Professor Arowolo also religious leaders to set aside a day to sensitize the faithful on the need to ensure a clean and safe environment.

    Arowolo is a Third World Academy of Science (TWAS) Visiting Scientist to International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICES) at the University of West Indies (UWI), Kingston, Mona, Jamaica.

  • The school curriculum brouhaha

    Noxious rumours that pointedly altered the educational system in favour of a religion have for some time held the country hostage leading to accusations, counter-accusations and rebuttals from various quarters. The buzz as impishly created by unnamed folks broadcast on various media that Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) which teaches Christian faith and morals was removed from primary school education curriculum by the present administration as a plot towards ‘Islamizing’ the country.

    Ditto history as a subject which elites viewed as misadventures putting into account the unceasing aggressions and hate speeches from virtually all the ethnic groups in the country in recent times, each group with its styled rabble-rousing, incendiaries and threats. From south-east; secession for Biafra; from Arewa – quit notice to the Igbos; from Niger-Delt – resource control, and from Southwest, Igbo’s absolute compliance or the lagoon option. Incidentally, almost all the arrowheads are the post-civil war populations. Few witnessed the war and its effects, thus fictional commandos. History as widely believed gives a clue of the past including the good and the bad, but lacking. Sadly, the neophytes never knew that people guzzled raw cassava, raw meat and anything closely for survival as a result of war. They owlishly misconstrue wars as Nollywood-Bollywood orchestrated fights; probably their only horror encounters.

    Some leaders from Christendom, on account of the perceived quagmire on Christian Religious Knowledge have unremittingly raised alarms, especially the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) calling on the Federal Ministry of Education to reverse to hitherto position or be ready to meet at the court. The stories indicated the alleged act was to forcefully make all children in primary and secondary school become Muslims against their wishes and those of their parents. The allegation implied that since only Islamic Religious Studies remains as a religious subject, all children have been tactfully programmed to become Muslims against their wishes.

    Evidently, the 9-year Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) which grouped the five subjects including Christian Religious Studies and Islamic Religious Studies under the umbrella of Religion and National Values (RNV) BEC was introduced into the nation’s education system by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in 2008 and commenced implementation afterwards. Its prominent characteristics include providing remedy to the UBE Act, 2004 for universal access and continuous basic education in Nigeria; attain the lofty values of social and economic development and reconstruction enshrined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Nigeria National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other global and domestic initiatives.

    However, owing to massive outcry over immoderation of subjects, the scheme was judiciously rearranged by Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2012 by the then Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i and Minister of State for Education, Barr. Nyesom Wike, now Rivers State governor, alongside Professor Godswill Obioma as the then Executive Secretary, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC). In 2014, the then minister, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau with the Minister of State, Professor (Mrs.) Viola Adaku Onwuliri retained it as evident in the National Policy on Education, 6th edition (2014) for basic education (primary 1 to junior secondary 3) at page 10 – 13.

    From records, the present administration adopted the scheme in continuity with a mere proposal by the present Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu in 2016 which merely disarticulated History from Social Studies to stand distinctively as two subjects. The necessity to separate History from Social Studies by the minister was to engage children separately in Social Studies and History rather than the shallow knowledge that merely recites names of Nigeria’s presidents, public officeholders as strategic panacea over current hurly-burlies.

    The essence of grouping is to compressively and neatly arrange the subjects. What is paramount is that the learners are expected to do well in all. Christian Religious Studies is sacrosanct for Christian pupils, and to Muslims, Islamic Religious Studies. It is bizarre playing politics with children and religion. Nobody has done it, and nobody ever conceived doing it.

    The French alleged to be elective with the ‘Islamic Arabic studies’; is a compulsory subject from Primary 4 as provided in Section 2 (23) 7 at page 13 of the National Policy on Education. Arabic remains optional since 2008, and exclusively for those willing to have knowledge of the language.

    As a secured policy, the 9-year BEC emphatically provides, “no child should be coerced or compelled to learn or taught any religious studies curriculum in school but one out of the two that restrictively relates to the belief system professed by the child and his/her parents”. As it stands, no child is however, under any compulsion to offer religious studies against the parents’ religion in public schools. Of course, in private schools, the proprietors may call the shot on religious studies in line with ‘volenti non fit injuria’ (to a willing person, no harm is done), and then Parents-Teachers Association (PTA). Nonetheless, government cannot force a privately-owned missionary school to teach the doctrines of other religion.

    Overall, who are the gainers and losers? The children and the society are the gainers while there are no losers at all. The children will face more subjects compressed under the grouping. By assembling four subjects under a group, the alarm ought to emanate from pupils and not adults except where the workload is glaringly affecting the children. Under the arrangement, to pass all Religion and National Values subjects, a pupil will have to perform well in four subjects under it. On the economy, the scheme opened-up opportunity for the kick-start deployment of 250,000 graduate-teachers in phases. None bothered to figure out where these new teachers will be posted knowing that no new public schools is built anywhere in the country. Federal government perspicaciously utilized the BEC to create jobs and at the same time impacting positively on the children. Thus, the brouhaha or hullaballoo is uncalled for. Criticisms can only be constructive and resourceful after critical investigations. Let’s eschew politics of religion.

     

    • Umegboro is a public affairs analyst and social crusader.

  • The schools curriculum brouhaha

    SIR: Our national discourse was charged recently with news about the purported removal of Christian Religious Studies from the nation’s education curriculum. Many Christian leaders described the move as a subtle way to Islamize the country.

    The National Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) whose responsibility is to design, draw and review subjects in the curriculum frantically tried to explain what the new policy entails but no one listened.

    Teaching of religions ought not to be the concern of government; parents and affected religious organizations should take up such arduous responsibility. Our Holy Book advises that parents should lay a solid foundation for the training of their children so that they will not deviate from it when they grow up.

    The current socio-economic imperatives with their concomitant materialistic appeals make not a few parents guilty of dereliction of this divine command. Most parents including our clergies hardly have time for their children let alone preach to them.

    If you ask me, Nigeria is not in short supply of religious teachings. In fact, indeed, it is morals that is lacking and this is the bane of our development. Our deficit here makes us a breeding ground for this ubiquitous monster, called corruption. The level of ostentatious display of wealth in our clime makes looting and stealing more appetizing. When a supposed religiously conscious people cannot become a peaceful and corrupt-free nation, then it is hypocrisy that is at work.

    Interestingly, some of the countries with the best standard of living and low corruption index do not place any premium on religion. In most of these countries religion is studied along with civic and moral education. Examples are France, Malaysia, Canada, United States, Mexico etc. In Norway, for instance, Evangelical Lutherans parents are mandated to make private arrangements for religious training of their children. And in Scotland, religious education is called Religious and Moral Education in primary and junior secondary schools while in upper secondary schools, it is called Moral and Philosophical Studies.

    It is pertinent to note that the teaching of religions with no emphasis on morality will produce extremism and further polarize the country along religious lines. It is the absence of morality in our national psyche that would make a man or woman to steal so much than he or she ever has needs for. All these corrupt people if you ask me are extremely religious. They are either devout Muslims, staunch Catholics or bon-again Christians. Then how come their consciences never prick them when they cart away the national wealth and thus depriving our people and children yet un-born the right to have a decent life? What about decaying social infrastructure like schools, hospitals and power supply? Our country, yes indeed our dear nation bleeds in the hands of ruthless leaders.

     

    • Itaobong Offiong Etim,

    Calabar.