Education Ministry to back ideas that uplift Nigeria’s workforce, says minister

…as GetBundi founder pays courtesy visit

Minister of State for Education, Rt. Hon. Goodluck Nanah Opiah, has said the ministry would support private-sector programmes geared towards educating Nigerians and uplifting the nation’s workforce.

The minister made the promise when the founder of GetBundi, Osita Oparaugo, paid him a visit to introduce the educational technology (EdTech) platform to him.

READ MORE: STEM learning will fast-track Africa’s development – GetBundi founder

GetBundi, an EdTech platform, is designed to deliver high-quality, engaging, and accessible STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) courses focused on six years of post-primary education as well as STI (Science, Technology, and Innovation) skills.

While commending the GetBundi founder for his vision, Opiah said that no nation or society can progress beyond its education because “education serves as the springboard of development”.

“Nigeria’s education system lays emphasis on preparing its children for the responsibilities of citizenship and national development, hence the National Policy on Education recognises education as an instrument par excellence for engineering national change, building character and sustainable development,” the minister said.

He reiterated that the ministry would do all within its capacity to support GetBundi and any other private sector-led initiative aimed at educating Nigerians and uplifting the workforce, saying it is part of the ministry’s goals under ‘Education for Change: A Ministerial Strategic Plan (MPS)’.

READ MORE: GetBundi launches to equip young Africans with STEM skills

Earlier, Oparaugo informed the minister about the vision of GetBundi, why it is focused on STEM courses at the post-primary education level, as well as the digital skills vocational institute aimed at upskilling 10 million Africans by 2032 and beyond in order to create an inclusive and sustainable development driven by technology.

“Our STEM courses are based on the West African School Syllabus for secondary schools and can be used as teachers’ aids, to support continuous learning for in-school students, and as a study guide for out-of-school students. It can also be used to prepare those standing in for competitive examinations like WASSCE, NECO Examinations, and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination organized by JAMB,” Oparaugo told the minister.

The GetBundi founder said the STI digital skills vocational courses are centred on coding, graphics, cinematography, video editing, digital marketing and cyber security as first development.

“We have a vision to upskill 10 million Africans in 10 years, 2023–2032. We have tagged this plan as ‘The GetBundi VISION 2032’,” he explained.

He thanked the minister for the audience and assured him that GetBundi would offer not only Nigerian youths but African youths a future of limitless opportunities.