Stakeholders in the education sector have decried the failure of schools to provide students with requisite skills to tackle emerging challenges in technology, science, engineering among others.
Speaking at a One-day ‘Transforming Education Summit organized by the National Universities Commission, NUC, in Abuja, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, said the significant challenge Nigeria is facing is the problem of unemployability of its graduates, particularly in sciences, engineering, and technology.
Pantami stressed the need to provide relevant skills to students so they can confront any challenge and apply for any job globally.
The minister further explained that soft skills are mostly sought after especially in big tech companies such as critical thinking, analytical thinking,, collaborative skills, project management, problem solving, presentation skills, among others.
“Today if you apply for a job in the global tech giant, they hardly ask you about the university you attended or class of degree but are interested in knowing your hard skills and soft skills this is what they are interested in,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chief Education, UNICEF, Saadhna Panday-Soobrayan, said Nigeria is off-track in achieving the sustaibable development goal 4.
According to Panday-Soobrayan, the Coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the fragility of countries’ education systems which was already struggling with poor access to quality learning and low resilience to shock.
“Additionally, frequent attacks on schools – including abduction of children, who should always be safe in school – has also resulted in prolonged school closures and is contributing to high rates of out of school children and low learning outcomes,” she said.
In his remarks, the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, announced that the new education curriculum being developed will focus on skills and entrepreneurship in a bid to enhance the employability of graduates.
Adamu, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, Arc Sonny Echono, noted that the whole world is now focusing on education because of the central role it plays.
He said the summit which is being held ahead of the global summit in September in New York by the United Nations Secretary provides opportunity to brainstorm on the many challenges facing Nigeria’s education sector such as poor funding, out-of-school children among others, as to find sustainable solution and transform the sector.