Rethink higher education prospects to dignify humanity — Theresa Okafor

Theresa Okafor, director at the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH) has called on higher education stakeholders to rethink the prospects of university education in order not to truncate the dignity of the human person.

Okafor, speaking at the Institute of Humanity Conference, Pan-Atlantic University, Lekki-Lagos, annual human dignity conference 2023 with the theme: “Envisioning Education through a Human Dignity Lens: Opportunities and Challenges in a Developing Nation”, pointed out that the dignity of the human person and the call to greatness should be the nexus of university education.

“The purpose of the university must be premised on raising the level of human dignity,” she said.

The data analyst, and IT support specialist argued that in revisioning prospects for Africa’s and other developing countries’ higher education, stakeholders need to integrate some points such as; ensuring graduates are employability compliance, and creators of labour, instead of job seekers, risk anticipators and risk mitigants, among others.

Citing John Henry Newman, she said the idea of a university is to train good members of society, give a person a clear conscious view of his or her own opinion and judgement, a truth in developing him or her, an eloquence in expressing himself/herself and a force in urging him/her.

“It teaches a person to see things as they are. It aims at raising the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste,” she explained.

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She reiterated the need for a university system where knowledge is cultivated in a profound way, out of love for the truth and transmitted in unselfish ways; where culture becomes a service to man and not a pretext for self-affirmation or the exercise of power.

“We need a place where the study of problems and search for solutions are entrusted to competence and professionalism, not to partisan logics, personal interests, superficiality and fashion.

A place essentially where truth and common good go together and continue to question us seriously. A place where optimism should not be founded on the abstract,” she noted.

The educationist urged African education policymakers and implementers to embrace a rethinking approach rather than being eco-chambers or filter bubbles of relativism.

She bared her mind on the obvious consequences of misalignment with the ideal purpose of higher education.

“The absence of theology and philosophy from the academia leads to two mutually exclusive concepts: schism and schizophrenia, the absurdity of building a university in the absence of the universals, dumbing down standards to the lowest common denominator.

Take away the supernatural and what you get is the unnatural,” she stated.

In her attempt to explain how university education influences human thinking, she quoted Lee Strobel, an investigative journalist, and an atheist turned Christian;

“To continue in atheism, I would need to believe that nothing produces everything, non-life produces life, randomness produces fine turning, chaos produces information, unconsciousness produces consciousness, and non-reason produces reason. I simply don’t have that much faith.”

Quality education is the fourth of the sustainable development goals (SDG 4) adopted by various developing countries, to improve the quality of life of citizens.

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Holistic education includes raising awareness about human dignity. Fostering respect for the dignity of every member of the human species is a task that can enrich the educational system in developing nations.

Increased appreciation of the value of human life backed by actions that promote human flourishing can relieve human suffering.

In exploring the wealth of contributions that each young mind can make to the development of their society; one can glimpse the urgency of enriching academic learning with knowledge and practices that promote holistic approaches to human flourishing rooted in the dignity of each person.

The Institute of Humanities 2023 conference focused on human dignity in education.

Many outstanding scholars from Africa and beyond were available at the webinar conference where they contributed to dialogues regarding the promotion of the common good in developing nations.