By Zika Bobby
A non-governmental organisation, the New Nigeria Foundation (NNF) has reiterated its commitment to support calls to enhance the quality of secondary school education in Nigeria.
The foundation’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Prof Obafemi Ajibola who spoke at the celebration of the 15th anniversary of NNF, in Lagos said since its inception the foundation has continued to work hard to justify the vision of its founders by implementing social sector development activities that reduce poverty, generate wealth, create jobs, enhance economic growth and improve healthcare and general well-being of Nigerians through the facilitation of partnerships between public and private sector organisations.
Ajibola said the management of NNF focused on education as a key area of concern in the celebration of its anniversary partly because of observable steady decline in the performance of students in national examinations in the last 10 years.
As part of NNF’s contribution to enhancing secondary school education, the Foundation hosted a symposium with the theme “Making Secondary School Education Relevant for the 21st Century Student.” The event featured a keynote address by renowned educationist, Prof Abiola Lanre Awosika and a panel of discussants that comprised leading lights in education management, notably Prof Francis Adesina; Dr Muyiwa Bamgbose; Mrs Folasade Adefisayo and Ms Igho Pearl Ugbogbor.
The panel discussed the role of critical stakeholders in making secondary school education effective; integrating technology in the secondary education sector – barriers, opportunities and strategies; The place of private sector investment in advancing secondary school education towards achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) and mainstreaming entrepreneurial training in secondary education.
In her keynote address titled: ‘Teachers and Technology as Critical Resources for Teaching and Learning in Secondary School in the 21st Century,’ Prof. Awosika spoke on the need to close the gap between the way students live and the way they learn so that they can be better engaged.
“As a nation, we have to quickly embrace the integration of technology into our learning systems to enhance quality, excellence and productivity. It may take some time for teachers and institutions to be equipped with what is needed to learn in the 21st century but once they are, the impact will be dramatic,” she said.
