By Dipo Olowookere
The need to urgently reform the educational system in Nigeria in the interest of youths’ future has been emphasised by Heritage Bank.
This it said is against the backdrop of reduced Federal Government revenue and consequent reduction in federal investment in the education sector in the country.
The financial institution pointed out that as technology continues to advance at rocket pace and the gap in the world’s knowledge distribution continues to contract, it is very necessary to reform the school system to develop a modern and fit-for-purpose school system.
This view was shared by the Group Treasury of Heritage Bank, Mrs Kehinde Wole-Olomojobi, at an educational stakeholders’ summit recently in Lagos, on the theme ‘Our Children Safety, Everyone’s Business.’
According to her, the school of the future would aim at developing a more well -rounded, wholly educated individual members of the society who would combine the necessary academic curriculum with extra-curricular activities to develop balance between the different sections of life.
Mrs Olomojobi in her paper titled ‘managing the school of the future in the face of dwindling resources,’ observed that the school of the future would effectively play a significant role in building culture and morality in students while offering notable flexibility in managing the learning process.
She opined that the school of the future will leverage on strategic partnerships with industry and government catering to development of proficiency and skills needed to develop individuals well equipped to meet the needs of the modern global world.
The bank executive who was addressing participants at the summit also remarked that managing the school of the future would require three critical skills: passion for the vision, inspirational leadership and conflict resolution skills.
Mrs Olomojobi remarked that the school of the future would be a “safe, secure, flexible one which has effectively adapted technological tools to its learning process and which offers its diverse students a personalized learning process needed to fill any gaps in their unique backgrounds.”
She also said the school of the future would have an efficient accountability system, developed critical parent-teacher synergy that would be well aligned with today’s(and tomorrow’s) industries and offers an extended range of services for both its students and its community.
The Bank’s Treasurer further listed some of the challenges facing the current Nigeria’s educational sector as limited use of technology and visual aids in the teaching process and recent hike in insecurity leading to kidnapping of students.
Others are singular approach to learning which is rather strait jacketed and appeared to apply the same teaching tools and materials for all students regardless of cognitive and personality differences as well as cognitive focus which is heavily weighted in favour of cognitive intelligence at the expense of other important areas such as emotional intelligence among others.
Other important personalities who presented papers at the summit included the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mr Fatai Owoseni; Mrs. Ronke Odeleye, Director, School Safety, Lagos State Safety Commission; Mr Wale Olaoye, Managing Director/CEO, Halogen Security Company Limited; and Mrs Remi Olutimehin, CEO, Rightmove Consulting/Convener Education Stakeholders’ Summit 2017.
Modupe Gbadeyanka