UNESCO, others seek improved learning in education sector

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and other stakeholders have called for improved learning in the education sector.

They emphasised the need to ensure students learn to their best capacity, while efforts are made to curb the number of out-of-school children.

UNESCO said this at NEDIS 2022 Education Innovation Summit, with the theme: ‘Reimagining the Future of Education in Africa; Bridging the Skills Gap,’ organized, yesterday, by The Education Partnership (TEP) Centre in Lagos.

The Director of, UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, Manos Antoninis, sought sufficient support and well-defined plans to improve the education sector, adding that countries should learn from each other and teachers’ development should be a major focus.

Speaking on Non-state Schooling in Northern Nigeria: Implications for Regulations and Partnership, Technical Lead, Governance of Non-state Systems, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Partnership for Learning for All in Nigerian Education (FCDO-PLANE) Programme, James Fadokun, noted that 718, which is 70 per cent of school owners don’t belong to any association making them untraceable and not networking with others in the sector.

According to him, teachers in 517 non-state schools (50.4 per cent) did not receive a wage at the end of the month, while 165 (16.1 per cent) of non-state schools have provisions for students with disabilities.

He urged the government to ensure accountability in the sector and create enabling environment as private schools are also business owners just like SMEs.

Fadokun called for inclusive financing, record keeping and free e-service training to enhance the capacity development of private schools.

Program Manager, TEP, Utibeh Henshaw, said that the summit focused on gathering stakeholders in the sector to highlight the purpose of education and on knowledge sharing. 

“The gap we want to address is the attention given to the foundation of skills received, because skills are developmental in nature, in order to learn artificial intelligence, music or any other skill, you need to have the basic knowledge.

“We don’t just send children to school. There is a need and a future we must think about as skills that would help children survive and thrive in the future and these should be the focus of the educational sector. 

“Need to have more focused conversations to engage people and make sure collaboration don’t happen just once a year but consistently,” she added. 

Henshaw stated that skills and competences should be the main driver of the education sector.