Relevant stakeholders in the education sector have stressed the need for President Bola Tinubu to revamp the sector from its present state of comatose.
Stakeholders led by Ambassador Dr. Yemi Farounbi, Professor Kehinde Kester, Prince Dotun Oyelade and several others made this known in their presentation at the 2023 Press week of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Oyo state chapter in Ibadan.
Ambassador Farounbi said it is high we mapped out strategies on how to solve the multifaceted challenges confronting the Country.
He submitted that we wasted much time on discussing the problems the Country is faced with while lesser time is devoted for the solution.
Ambassador Farounbi who described Journalists as critical stakeholders in virtually all the sectors of economy urged them to bring their wealth of experience to bear in proffering solution to the problem.
Also, professor of industrial education and training from the faculty of education, University of Ibadan, Kehinde Kester, University of Ibadan in his lecture entitled Nigerian Economy: Re-imagining Education System for the Fifth Industrial Revolution, decried the present state of the sector
He declared that the education sector in Nigeria is in a serious crisis and, thereby, advised the three tiers of government and other stakeholders to intervene by providing more funding to save the sector from total collapse.
He noted that the education sector is currently facing serious challenges, such as inadequate funding and poor infrastructure.
We need to take our education sector more seriously. Nigeria’s education is more or less knowledge transmission, it does not take care of the quality. I wish to say that Nigeria’s education is very weak and poorly funded.
“Nigeria’s education is highly underfunded and there is an urgent need for intervention. It is garbage in, garbage out from primary to secondary and to tertiary. So, we are having issues. It is becoming a serious issue. To improve the country’s education sector, more money is required.
“So, how do we re-imaging the education system. We need to digitalise the system, we need more adaptation learning environment, we need skills that are not taught in classrooms. We need to increase access to education.
“Sir, ma, we are moving into the fifth industrial revolution. It is called industrial 5.0. Since we have industrial revolution 5.0, we should have education 5.0.
“Our jobs will still be there, they are bringing industrial revolution 5.0 to strike the balance between man and machine. We want to use industrial revolution 5.0 to bridge the gap between the top and bottom”.
Speaking through the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, the State governor Engr. Seyi Makinde noted that press week is an avenue for journalists to re-dedicate themselves to their professional calling.
The press week, according to him is not only for merry merry alone but for deep soul searching. Journalism is the best profession.
Also the Minister of Information, Alhaji Mohammad Idris who was represented by Director of Public Relations and Protocol in the ministry, Mrs. Omolara Esan urged journalists to continue to promote the ideas of democracy through their reportage.
“I will urge us on the need to continue to report the activities of President Bola Tinubu. Let us continue to promote the ideas of democracy. The success of our democracy lies in your dedication to service. I am confident that we will overcome our challenges.
The state chairman of NUJ, Comrade Demola Babalola said journalists would continue to play their roles as enshrined in the constitution.
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