…as SI-Global holds its inaugural education conference
Sola Oni, dean of the faculty of the School of Management and Social Sciences at Pan Atlantic University advocates curriculum review to enable youngsters to continually acquire global skills, in the face of emerging technology in the education space.
Oni disclosed this in her keynote address at the inaugural education conference by SI-Global, themed; “Global Study Conference 2024: Innovating Education for the Future”, in Lagos, when she said that Nigeria must engage in curriculum review to meet global needs.
“I don’t think we have a choice, the world is changing very rapidly, in Lagos State we aim to be a smart city by 2030, and it’s not these traditional courses that will take us there,” she said.
She said many Nigerians are already taking emerging courses such as blockchain, and fintech, among others, which makes it ideal that policymakers should continually review curriculum for tertiary institutions.
“As a member of faculty, engaging in curriculum review is something that we don’t have a choice but continue to do as a university, something we regularly practice, we keep updating with industries and regularly bring industries into the classroom.
“Experiential learning is something we don’t joke about at Pan Atlantic University. Nothing will make us stick with theories only, the moment we engage with practices, and experiences it means we don’t have a choice but have a cutting edge; we can’t be left behind,” she said.
The Information System scholar said there is a need to change the narrative of Nigeria’s education space, rather than just shifting the ground.
Buttressing the need to upgrade Nigeria’s education to a global standard, she said that over 70,000 Nigerians travel abroad every year for various reasons including education.
Oni reiterated that many Nigerians place a premium on education and with the country’s over 60 per cent youth population, is the peak for transformation if it embraces modern tech learning.
Mary Agbu, the country director of SI-Global, Nigeria in her address said the conference aimed to critically x-ray the dynamics of global education, the new things happening in the learning space.
“The conference is meant to create an information channel to Nigerians, so people can make informed decisions,” she said.
Agbu explained that tech education and its emerging courses are the future of learning and that it comes with a lot of opportunities especially for a country like Nigeria with its teeming youth population.
The country director revealed that the international schools at the conference were there to put Nigerians through emerging courses, and skills that would help them optimise the contemporary global workplace.
Dindembolo-Zana Kuyena, the Canadian Trade Commission to Nigeria, said education is a driving force in economic development for many countries, citing how Canada made over $3 billion in a bilateral trade relationship with Nigeria in 2023.
Keyuna emphasised that a major part of the country’s bilateral trade between both countries was in education, with over 50 per cent of international students from Africa in Canada coming from Nigeria.
“Canada can continue to gain from Nigerian students, because we place a premium on education. Universities in Canada are coming to Nigeria to help ministries and organisations train their human resources to boost human capacity needs of the country,” he noted.
He disclosed that the only way Nigeria can improve its economy is by exposing its youngsters to tech education, which was the main idea of the conference.
“Artificial Intelligence will not replace teachers, rather the importance of AI will be leveraged by educators to optmise their career,” he noted.
Similarly, Michael Lawson, the regional recruitment director at Heriot-Watt University said AI will only complement teaching and not replace the human beings in that career.
However, he revealed that there is fear that in 10 years, there will be over 50 million job spaces in the United Kingdom which Nigerians can take advantage of if refined in tech skills.
“In the UK, we need a great number of people to work in the health care, retail and hospitality sectors, among others.
“In Scotland, workers are paid a minimum of £28,000 per year working from home, and there are 2.4 million jobs in energy firms across the UK,” he said.
Some of the schools at the conference were Chrisland, Whitesand Schools, James Hope School, Dowen College, Christ the King School, New Hall, and Laoon Schools, among others.
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