President Muhammadu Buhari has called for collaborative
partnerships that will build a framework of ideas to transform educational
systems globally.
Buhari spoke on Monday while delivering Nigeria’s statement
at Transforming Education Summit (leaders’ roundtable) organised on the margins
of the 77th session of the UN general assembly.
“In transforming education, we must not erect borders. Where
they exist, we must bring them down, as we have much to learn from each other,”
he said.
“As we are aware, improving equitable and inclusive access to quality educational opportunities is germane to ensuring the full development of our societies.
“No country can
develop beyond the capacity of its educational system.”
Buhari said it would be difficult to have a meaningful
conversation around transforming the national education systems without
transforming the teaching profession.
He, therefore, called for more deliberations on efforts to
expand innovations and research on teacher education and the professional
development of teachers.
“The process of
building a sustainable teacher supply chain to address the challenges of
teacher shortages is important, and calls for global action,” he said.
“Nigeria also wishes to reiterate the need for all member
states and stakeholders to address the systemic and structural issues that
hamper access to quality education.
“It is only when we do this, that we can create a world
truly fit for all, and where no one is left behind.’’
According to Buhari, utilising information technology as a
teaching tool holds the promise of transforming and erasing the boundaries of
learning and re-engineering how learning occurs within and outside the
classroom.
He expressed optimism that bridging the digital divide would
offer Nigeria opportunities to expand learning and transform the education
system.
“Nigeria is restoring trust with its people, in order to
provide safe learning environment and responsive services. That was why we were
among the first to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD), while developing
a national policy on school safety and security,” he added.
“Nigeria also hosted the 4th international conference on Safe Schools Declaration (SSD)
in partnership with the African Union, Norway, Spain, Argentina and Global
Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) in 2021.”
He said the implementation of the SSD has offered an avenue
to address school safety in a broader context that now includes gender-based
violence and the protection of girls from hazards that contribute to insecurity
and violence.
He said: “While this is a step forward for promoting the
wellbeing of girls and ensuring they stay in school and learn, there are still
many more grounds to cover.”
“NIGERIA COMMITTED TO
STRENGTHENING LEARNING”
In addition, Buhari said Nigeria has also demonstrated its
commitment towards strengthening learning outcomes and accelerating skills
development by implementing cash transfer programmes.
He said the Nigerian government has dedicated special
statutory funds to Universal Basic Education and special programmes,
prioritising the scaling-up of play-based early childhood education, as well as
foundational literacy and numeracy programmes.
“I am pleased to
announce Nigeria’s participation in the Programme for the Analysis of Education
System (PASEC 2024), as a complement to the ongoing efforts towards the
institutionalization of national and school-based assessment. Doing so requires
significant investment in schools and teacher training,” he said.
“This informed Nigeria’s launching of a new national
teaching policy to address the career path, remuneration, and general welfare
of our teachers.
“We are now prioritizing the full implementation of
professional teaching standards and teacher qualification framework while
improving their recruitment, deployment and management.
“We will empower schools with the resources to truly
transform teaching and learning, as we understand that efforts to improve the
quality of education provision and learning outcomes are underpinned by the
understanding that learners, teachers, and school leaders are the key
stakeholders in education reforms.’’
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
is currently on strike over the failure of the government to meet its demands,
which border on funding of tertiary institutions and review of lecturers’
salaries and allowances.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com