Our educational system is obsolete, we need hands-on graduates, says cleric

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The rank of eminent Nigerians calling for a radical and extensive review of the nation’s educational curriculum swelled at the weekend, with Senior Pastor of the Christ Livingspring Apostolic Ministry (CLAM), Omole, Lagos, Pastor Wole Oladiyun, decrying the obsolete and irrelevant nature of the curriculum.

According to him, one of the reasons for Nigeria’s limited success in technology and innovation is the wrong content and focus of the educational curriculum, especially among students of tertiary institutions.

Oladiyun, who spoke yesterday during CLAM’s thanksgiving service held to round off the one-week apostolic revival tagged “Solution Nights,” lamented the poor quality of graduates produced by Nigerian tertiary institutions.

He said: “Our educational curriculum needs to be changed and amended urgently to make it relevant to the contemporary needs of the country. There is no point producing graduates that are not employable.

“We need hands-on graduates. There is no point in producing graduates that are not marketable. Many graduates are not articulate and analytical. Their knowledge and command of the English Language are poor, and they lack the requisite skills that a modern society needs.”

He opined that the Federal Government must overhaul the curriculum in all our tertiary institutions so that Nigerian graduates could be useful for themselves and the country.

The cleric, who also spoke against the widespread practice of parents dictating to their children some specific courses they must study, advised parents to desist from forcing courses on their children.

“Allow them to evolve. Our lives are different from theirs. Let them follow their passion. There are gifts in every child. Let those gifts evolve. Don’t force them to take after you,” he advised.

According to him, parents should concern themselves more with praying, mentoring, coaching and counselling their children.

He urged the youths not to be narrow-minded but to have a well-rounded, broad view of the world that incorporates positive and contemporary perspectives, saying: “Make the right choices prayerfully. Let the Holy Spirit and not the society or your friends choose for you. Broaden your knowledge; read widely. Listen to financial news. Embrace financial education. Make your minds viable. Rejig your minds. Stop packaging yourselves without strong substance.

“Do something productive every day. Make use of the Internet for your development. Learn animation and graphics. Learn ethical hacking. Read to broaden your knowledge.”