WE NEED TO INVEST IN EDUCATION:Maye of yorubakingdom

 WE SHOULD INVEST IN EDUCATION 

Education is the best gift to the society...i have forsee the future of better Education long long time ago...Almighty Allah has blessed with insights that has made me to achieve alots of land marks.

Nigeriacan have more institutions if  endowments can come from gifts thru wealthy donors, contributions from alumnis of most government institutions, profits from tuition and other fees etc. In the case of state-owned universities, grants from the government can also contribute to the  financial positions of such institutions. Beyond university-wide endowments, there are numerous specific endowments for professorial chairs and for scholarships. 

What’s the point? In countries that are making progress and are globally competitive, education is an industry in which huge public and private investments are made. Wealthy Nigerians and alumni of Nigerian universities should look more seriously at this model of funding education. In Nigeria,Ooni of ife,late Oba okunade Sijuwade supported me alots for the establishment of ODUDUWA university.

(I was the first person to establish the first private polytechnic in nigeria because i assessed to have future leadership potential.)

But governments still have a primary role in education. So federal and state governments must invest massively in education reform, as follows:

1. Invest in massive teacher training and Re-training programs to make those who teach our kids fit for purpose.

2. Reform the curriculum towards skills acquisition for job creation, rebalancing tertiary education curricula to 60:40 in favor of science, technology, skills and entrepreneurship versus arts and social sciences.

3. Create a clear “vocational track” and “professional track” in secondary education and establish more tertiary vocational institutions.

4. Invest in pedagogy (how we learn) reform, away from rote learning (“cram and pour”) to self-discovery and creative learning methods that embed what is learnt because students participate more in the learning process. In my class as a professor, the student’s original research essay carried 60% of total marks, participation in class discussion and group exercises carried 20%, and attendance was the remaining 20%. The aim was a well rounded student after taking my class.

5. Invest in education infrastructure. Every child in any Nigerian secondary school should have a laptop. High quality school buildings, learning environment and other  learning aids are critical for superior education.

6. Invest in higher pay for teachers, and restore the teaching profession to the pride of place it once had in Nigeria, and as it has in countries like South Korea and Finland where teaching is one of the most respected and prestigious professions.

Finally, we need a public-private venture capital fund of at least N1 trillion to invest in new ventures that graduates of our educational institutions with technical, artistic or entrepreneurship skills wish to set up. This will close the circle, from education to jobs .

Dr Ramon Adedoyin

Chancellor and chairman..

=Oduduwa University,

Osun.

=Oduduwa polytechnic,

Lagos.

=The polytechnic,Osun.

=Our Savoirs University.

Delware,USA.

=Unique citizens University of Ghana.Ghana.

=Oduduwa international secondary school,Osun.

=Oduduwa inyernational seconday school,Lagos.