New curriculum eyes AI-compliant youths for high-paying jobs

The federal government is planning to review basic and senior secondary schools’ curricula to address the current learning crisis in the country, encourage the use of technology and enable future job seekers to secure high-paying jobs.

Though the curriculum has not been launched, BusinessDay gathered that it focuses mostly on critical technological courses such as robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, among others.

It is an outcome-based curriculum that plans to empower students to be globally competitive and take care of critical emerging issues, experts say.

The new tech-focused curriculum is expected to help students acquire skills that will make them financially independent, and earn income in six digits even without attaining tertiary education qualifications.

“The curriculum, distributed to over 450 public secondary schools, encourages teachers to incorporate 10 to 14 hours of AI education into the information and communication technology subject for students in form one to three, starting from September 2023,” Tahir Mamman, minister of education, said at a recent event.

“Whereas in Nigeria, at the secondary level, the current computer science curriculum is replete with what can still be termed redundant. Given that the curriculum has been in use for many years with only minor reviews, and there is a tendency that subjects like robotics and AI may take longer to be incorporated,” he added.

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Chuks Ugwu, chief executive officer of Protech Advance, a leading tech firm in Nigeria, applauded the step taken by the federal government, describing it as a major step forward.

“Integrating technology into the new curriculum is a major step forward. By making learning tech-powered, students will gain practical skills that are immediately marketable.

“Courses like digital literacy, entrepreneurship, and creative arts will empower them to earn an income even before completing secondary education. This approach ensures that students can become financially independent without necessarily pursuing higher education,” he said.

According to Ugwu, “a well-trained tech expert could earn up N500,000 to N1 million a month, which is one of the reasons the new curriculum is ideal.”

“It would make the students become financially independent if well implemented,” he noted.

Kelvin Bob-Manuel, senior communications coordinator at West Africa Vocational Education (WAVE), said the tech-driven curriculum would help the students to become freelancers, who are not compelled to work under anybody.

“Having tech-skills introduces the students to the gig economy, where they can work from anywhere in the world,” he noted.

Besides, he said they will have access to the global market, working in foreign companies where they can earn foreign currencies.

Experts believe that this new curriculum will diversify learning pathways for out-of-school children by developing flexible technology-enabled alternatives for learning, accredited certification, and re-entry to the formal education system.

Oyebola Ajiteru, an education consultant, said incorporating technology in basic education would transform traditional methods into dynamic, interactive learning experiences.

“Technology engages students and fosters a deeper understanding of subjects. It supports diverse learning styles, catering to individual student needs. Digital tools facilitate collaboration and communication among students and teachers.

“Technology enhances access to up-to-date resources, expanding learning opportunities. It also prepares students for a technology-driven world, equipping them with essential digital skills,” she said.

Stakeholders say a tech-focused curriculum will encourage personalised learning because technology supports individualised learning paths, accommodating different learning styles.

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Besides, it will give rise to collaborative learning due to the use of platforms that promote collaboration and communication among students.

Moreover, there is a tendency for digital literacy to help students develop essential skills for the modern workforce.

The revised curriculum indicates that the junior primary phase will be from grades one to three, while the senior primary phase will be from grades four to seven.

This way, pupils will have the opportunity to be exposed to pre-vocational subjects to lay the foundation for technical-vocational education.

Nigeria is behind countries such as Hong Kong, and Qatar, which, through their educational curricula, have ensured the production of innovative and highly creative students.

Henrietta Onwuegbuzie, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Lagos Business School, said two parallel systems are going on in the country regarding tech-driven education.

“The funding problem is crippling the public schools, and the private schools who understand the importance of this have long been using all kinds of gadgets such as digital boards to educate their students.

“The public schools don’t even have the funding to do even basic learning. You don’t even do basic reading and writing properly, talk less of bringing in AI and robotics,” she said.

Boye Ogundele, an educationist, said the idea of curriculum review is timely because 21st-century education is based on critical thinking, hence Nigeria needs to fly with the entire world with the new curriculum.

“The private school will take the lead and government schools can follow. Nigeria is more than ready because the population of parents patronising private schools is higher than that of government schools,” he noted.