Industry sector analysts are currently increasing call for the review of curriculum in Nigeria’s education sector in order to address concerns of rising unemployment.
Nigeria’s unemployment ranking has been worsened with the global coronavirus pandemic,plunging the nation into a deep worrisome economic situation,with lots of people loosing their jobs, which some of the sector analysts emphasising the need for the country to la emphasis on enterpreneurship education.
“The major missing link is that we have to go back to the drawing board to adjust our curriculum to solve the need for the job demands of the future.”Chijike Ekechukwu,a former director general of Abuja Chamber told BusinessDay.
“The education curriculum is the foundations that must be addressed to focus on different skills acquisition, such that any child exiting from any University could be an employer of labour or an entrepreneur.
“The privilege I had going to China on a business meeting taught me lots of things.For instance,there is University of music,University of automobiles and University of furniture making.
Anybody coming out of these Universities will automatically work on his own and become employer of labour.Our education needs must solve problems of the 21st century and the demands of the job of the future,”Ekechukwu said.
It would be noted that Nigeria’s unemployment rate has increased to 27.1 percent in the second qauter of 2020 from 23.1 percent recorded in the third qauter of 2018.
The report showed further that under employment rate increased from 20.1 percent in third qauter 2018 to 28.6 percent in Q2 2020.
The report showed Imo State reported the highest rate of unemployment wit:h 48.7 percent,followed by Akwa-Ibom and Rivers State with 45.2 percent and 43.7 percent respectively while Anambra recorded the lowest rate of unemployment at 13.1 percent.
Celestine Okeke,an Associate Consultant for the British Department for international Development told BusinessDay that Nigeria can’t advance in addressing unemployment concerns unless there are specific sectoral policies to to grow the economy,particularly rural economy.
He said,”We have not had policies at least in the last four years that are job centred.
“What we have mainly is capital intensive economic growth. Most of capital inflow are not labour intensive and therefore the kind of jobs we are expecting is not there and not employing the way we want.
According to Celestine,”If we’re relying on the foreign direct investments,we cannot decide where the investors wantto put their money.Most of the places they put their money is capital intensive sectors and not labour intensive. We must look in house and say what sectors we can work on and specifically focus on them accordingly with slated timelines.”
On the sustainability and impact of some of federal government’s policy initiative,Sam Amadi a lecturer with Base University told BusinessDay that some of government plans such as the economic sustainabilitiy plan.are not wholistic in addressing Nigeria’s economic concerns.
“The challenge with some of our plans are how sustainable they are in addressing our problems.We need need consistency in managing our plan and push a sectoral plan that addresses our employment needs and concerns. This will involve greatobilisation from the federal to local government.”
Amadi emphasised that sectoral policies and institutional reforms are key in addressing concerns of unemployment.
