At least hundred stakeholders would assemble in the northern Nigerian state of Niger in the last week of July for what is described as a “positive educational transformation” in a state facing daunting educational challenges.
Nigeria’s educational sector has been in state of comatose for decades, with schools filled with unqualified teachers, inadequate infrastructure, limited resources, poor overall performance in the national examination, substandard boarding accommodation, poor sanitation and hygiene facilities. In many cases, there are no teachers at all.
President Muhammadu Buhari cited education in his inaugural speech in May last year as one of his long term goals to pulling Nigeria from the brink of collapse and abject poverty even with oil wealth and other mineral resources into a land prosperity for all.
The stakeholders’ event, a sub-programme under the Transformation of Education in Niger state (TENS) is “to gradually improve the educational system knowing that investment of this sort would take time”, the organisers said in a statement to TheSimonAtebaNews.
The event is sponsored by the Niger state government in collaboration with the University of Cambridge – Faculty of Education, Judge Business School and MRL Public Sector Consultants.
“One of the key things to Understanding problems is to Understand it from the users of the system and those who work within the system; so the idea of the stakeholders programme is to have one hundred participants from the different sectors of the educational system In Niger state so as to really understand the issues they are facing within the system,” a statement quoted Dr Roni Ajao, Executive Director MRL Public Sector Consultant, as saying.
Faculty professors from the Institute of Education and Judge Business School, Cambridge University, would be present to help guide and offer possible change solutions through a five day training and interactive session.
A statement said MRL Public Sector Consultant is working with the Niger state government to achieve the needed change in the educational sector.
“One of the key partners onboard this project is the prestigious Cambridge University; two of its major faculties would also be greatly involved as well, i.e. the Institute of Education which would train the teachers and help redevelop their curriculum while the Judge Business School would handle the organizational and structural level,” the organisers told TheSimonAtebaNews
They added: “The institute of Leadership and management is another key partner that would be working on developing the right leadership skills that would not only be useful in the educational level but the community at large”.