In these extraordinary times, the option is no longer business as usual. There must be a reconsideration of transforming the education sector to affect the future and shift course.
According to UNICEF, adequate funding can transform Nigeria’s education system by ensuring school safety. There must be an improvement in the security system in the country to give confidence to both students and parents that they are safe. There must be the assurance that children are safe while at school; no child should be afraid to enter a classroom because they are scared people will assault their school or kidnap them. Furthermore, no parent should be afraid to send their children to school.
There should be a modification of the education system by making it flexible.
The pandemic caused a lot of imbalances in the school system’s calendar, of which most schools are yet to bridge the gap up till now. Adopting a hybrid means of teaching will help to augment the post-pandemic shock. There should be a creation of multiple and flexible learning pathways for students, such as digital and transferable learning skills. Although, this may be difficult at the onset as some students were deprived of access to education during a pandemic because they could not afford the digital networks from their homes. However, digital transformation should centre on inclusion and equity, making education flexible, dynamic, accessible, and not expensive.
Training of teachers with modern methods
The teacher should be trained in the most up-to-date methods to effectively and efficiently impact the students with the proper knowledge they need to cope with the future. Some schools lack access to modern teaching equipment/facilities. Government should see to the provision of these learning materials and train the teachers on using them.
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The implementation of gender-responsive policies
Gender-responsive policies, such as recruiting female teachers and improved facilities for girls, should be implemented. Girl children are prone to most of the challenges happening in the country. They face a high risk of being raped, harassed, dropping out of school, early marriage, among others. There should be an implementation of these policies to protect and encourage the girl child.
While the education crisis in Nigeria affects children across the country, some children are disproportionately affected: girls, children with disabilities, children from the poorest households, children living on the streets, children affected by displacement or emergencies, and children living in geographically distant areas are all disproportionately affected by the crisis.
Placing less emphasis on the ranking systems in the educational sector
It is highly unhealthy to focus on ranks, percentages, and marks, which produce unwarranted anxiety and stress. Bridging the learning gaps is more important, so the education system should be flexible and more empathetic to the children’s several learning ways and encourage them in the same manner. Less emphasis should be placed on position or ranking at all levels to maintain the child’s mental health.
Education should encourage individuals to be actively involved in building their environment
The pandemic was another eye-opener that the severity of the crisis is more evident among people without economic privilege. Education will have to sensitise the students to engage actively in their environment.
Personalise the education
Many schools, especially private schools in Nigeria, have been applying the Montessori approach in teaching and learning. However, many graduates are out there that cannot apply what they were taught in school in practical life situations. Graduates must offer something unique when posed with any life situation, thereby making them stand out as global citizens. Therefore, the modifications must be designed to support distinctive learning rather than enforce them to blend into the sea of mediocrity.
Furthermore, education should create a job-creating mentality and not a students’ job-seeking mentality. Students should aim to be an employer of labour with the knowledge they have acquired in school. They should be creative and result-oriented.
Finally, as the saying goes, education begins at home. Parents cannot leave everything for the caregivers, teachers, and government. Even the word of God says train up a child in the way it should go; when he grows up, he will not depart from it.
The parents should wake up to give their children proper and timely education. A significant proportion of parents in the country have little time to share their wards for adequate home training. Most parents can only meet the financial needs of their children due to several tasks demanding their attention.
The children’s emotional, psychological, physical, among others, needs are ignored. This is one of the root causes of bullying, harassment, hard drugs, among other unhealthy situations that these children face. Therefore scheduling an adequate and appropriate time for these children is crucial in this time and age.
In conclusion, education is training that affects all spheres of life, and all stakeholders (parents, teachers, and government) must rise to the task of transforming the sector.
Busayo Aderounmu is an economics lecturer at Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.
