Experts call for improved educational budgeting, ask students to be problem solvers

GOVERNMENTS at all levels in the country have been urged to increase budgetary allocation for the educational sector to improve the state of education in the country.

This advice was given last Thursday, when experts from the education sector and others converged in Ibadan for the ‘WhatNext Summit 2021/2022: Unlocking Post-Secondary Opportunities’ organised by What’s Next Africa, to empower secondary school students with career pathways and options.

One of the speakers, who is a business and personal development coach, David Olayiwola, noted that every activity meant to improve the capacity development of students is predicated on funding.

“The level of education in Nigeria is what it is today because our budget is far below what the United Nations’ recommended when it comes to education funding. It’s a major aspect that needs to be improved upon. Education in Nigeria is poor because every other thing centres on funding. So the budget should be increased by the government,” Olayiwola said.

He urged the students drawn from 20 schools in Ibadan North and Ibadan North West local government areas to be problem-solvers.

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He added that “they need to identify problems. It’s not just about ‘I want to become an accountant,’ ‘I want to become a lawyer’. You need to look for a problem and then find a solution to the problem you have identified. This is how you stand out from the pack.”

Speaking in the same vein, Gbenga Adebambo from the Educational Advancement Centre (EAC), urged the students to be assets and not liabilities in every environment they find themselves in.

“I know some of you are harbouring the intention to travel out of the country. Even if you travel and you don’t have what it takes to identify problems that you can solve, you’ll become a liability.

“The future of work is skills. What can you do to help people’s problems? Knowing and having the right skills will help you become an asset. You can be local geographically, but you must be global in the solutions you provide,” Adebambo noted.

Meanwhile, the convener of the summit, Temitope Ogunnusi, said that 300 students were selected for the pilot stage of the programme which will provide them with mentorship and guidance for about ten years.

He said that the programme would thereafter continue with intermittent classroom check-ins to ensure that the students do not deviate from their life and career plans and goals.

“The idea is to provide young people with the support framework from their teenage years to adulthood so that success is accelerated completely for them to be able to achieve their goals. The support framework will help these young people with their choices to minimise errors and mistakes,” the convener said.

One of the participants and student of Community Grammar School, Ibadan, Oluwafunmilayo Sanni, told Nigerian Tribune that insights from the summit would help her and others navigate challenges associated with making career and life’s choices.

Rebecca Akande of St Louis Grammar School, Mokola, Ibadan, noted that the summit would go a long way in helping her to have a rethink on the decisions she has made for herself and the future.