The Registrar and Chief Executive, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria [TRCN], Segun Ajiboye said the future of a nation is determined by the quality of its education system because our schools produce leaders in all areas: government, business, innovation and invention.
Speaking as a Guest Speaker at the Webinar organised by Axiom Learning Solutions in collaboration with TRCN for management staff of the council, across the 36 states and Abuja, said the time to wake up teachers from their respective domains at speeding on the adaptive mode of teaching occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic is now.
Ajiboye, a Professor stated that the webinar is to expose Nigerian Teachers as part of the global professional in knowledge impartation to prepare them for the new reality in their job.
Themed “The Teaching profession and Regulation Post COVID-19, The Nigerian perspective’’, the webinar is also aimed at sharing knowledge on how to leverage on technology to retool teachers in a new world unfolding by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The TRCN boss said: ‘’We need to sharpen the knowledge of our staff to learn what is new normal in their profession, compare notes, and understand how to navigate the current challenges which has caused halting schooling in Nigeria due to the pandemic.
“This is actually what the Sustainable Development Goal Four. “Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” try to achieve”, Ajiboye said.
Speaking at the occasion, Olubukola Adebonojo, observes that the gaps between the tertiary programmes and the requirements of the local and international work environment have also found many Nigerian graduates lacking in competitive skills upon graduation.
Adebonojo opines that despite several efforts by both federal and state governments through initiatives and interventions to reposition the Nigerian education system to meet global standards, such initiatives were poorly implemented, while some far-reaching decisions were abandoned resulting in current dilapidated state.
“I wish to emphasise that while the regulatory framework at the government level is somewhat clear, there is little clarity regarding education goals and accountability for ensuring that desired outcomes are met”.
Reforming education system presupposes public private partnership arrangement as education is both a public and a private concern with responsibilities and benefits for the entire nation,” Adebonojo said.
Ani Charles, co- founder, Axiom Learning Solutions, one of the panellists stressed the need “to look at the roots of the problems in education and not the resultant effects”.
Charles in his comments on the topic, ‘Teaching Profession and Regulation post COVID-19’, said Nigeria needs to refocus the conversation about developing this critical sector by focusing on having an identified national education vision that will drive processes and investment going forward.
According to Charles, it is very imperative that as a nation, Nigeria’s education is tied to what is called a national vision.
“Why are primary, secondary and universities going to school? And how will their education impact the economy or the vision of the nation?” he said.
Charles observed that government, private and non-for-profit organisations over the years have been working in silos, by not pooling resources to achieve a very clear impact, adding that if managers of the economy don’t address this root cause, the country will continue going in cycles.
