The Nigerian government has expressed readiness to internalize the focus of the 2022 Global Education Summit.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr David Adejo made this known during the second National Consultation Education Summit held in Abuja.
Mr Adejo said; “Nigeria is more interested in the application of the targets of the summit by elevating education on the top of the nation’ political agenda.
“As it is, education is not on the top of the agenda of political leaders but Nigeria is taking advantage of the global momentum to form more partnerships to inform solutions on the challenges facing the country’s education sector.”
Mr Adejo emphasised the need to address education exclusion and mental health, stressing the need to create balance between classroom education and online education.
Second National Summit
On the essence of the second National Summit, the Permanent Secretary emphasised the place of education as a human right which must involve equity, inclusion, quality and relevance.
He said; “beyond the summit, there is need to further transform teaching profession in the country.’’
Mr Adejo restated that Public Financing of Education can never be sustained hence the need to work with the private sector and development partners.
He called for a balance on technical education saying “the country now need to know that paper qualification do not inform necessary and expected transformation.’’
“Education transformation will only happen if teachers are Professionalised, trained, motivated and supported to drive the process to guide their learners to reach their objectives and well being.
We must build an education supportive environment where the work of teachers is amplified outside the educational institution.’’
The Minister of State for Education, Nanah Opiah described the summit as the right step in the right direction.
Opiah acknowledged that the challenges facing Nigerian education sector were enormous.
The UN Resident Coordinator Nigeria, Mr Mattias Schmale identified the need for full inclusion of young people in the consultation on education issues.
Safety of School Children
Mr Schmale urged the Nigerian government to ensure that all children across Nigeria were safe on their way to school.
He said; “We must make education more affordable and mitigate learning losses while Nigeria also significantly increase resources allocated to education.”
The second National Consultation Transforming Education Summit aimed at mobilising action, ambition, solidarity and solutions to transform education between now and 2030.
Another partner on the summit, the National Universities Commission through one of its Director said the government led national consultations seek to ensure meaningful engagement of the full set of education stakeholders.
The objective of the National Consultation is to identify the main strategic transformations and levers for reimagining education for the 21st century and accelerating progress towards shared educational goals.
The summit also focused on the review of the key thematic action track which are centred on teachers and the teaching profession.
The first edition of Nigeria’s National consultation on education was held in June, 2022.
