SystemSpecs, the indigenous tech company behind Remita has recently called on Nigeria’s government to declare an emergency on the country’s education owing to the perilous state of its educational system.
This was stressed by Deremi Atanda, SystemSpecs’ Executive Director at the Business of Education Summit hosted by Edusko Africa in Lagos.
Deremi emphasized that both the government and stakeholders shouldn’t soft-pedal in their approach to solving this challenge.
“People really need to know what it means when there is a crisis in a sector. It means that the country cannot make any meaningful economic development or growth if we don’t fix that sector.”
The executive director also called for designation of a national emergency coordinator whose responsibility is to plan a national intervention scheme for education.
This call for action by SystemSpecs is necessitated by the growing state of Nigeria’s poor educational system.
Reports from UNICEF shows that one in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria.
Even with the free primary education that is available, the quality it comes with is low as the curriculum is most times outdated, thus they tend to fall behind globally.
One area, where such inadequacies is common is with Science, Technology and Innovation. Technology advocates have continuously called for introducing coding into elementary public schools.
According to Atanda, education is a driver for the development of Nigeria and the African continent.
“Government should embrace more actions and less talk in solving the problems of education which include, but not limited to, lack of innovation, lack of infrastructure and teaching aids, poor funding, and governance.”
“Scientific knowledge allows us to develop new technologies, solve practical problems and make informed decisions both individually and collectively. The potential of science in education promotes scientific literacy and responsible citizenship,” Atanda said.
Themed ‘Unlocking the potential for science, technology and innovation in our schools’, and organised by education information service platform, Edusko Africa, the 2021 Business Education Summit featured several eminent speakers including former Minister of Education, Dr Obi Ezekwesili; CEO, Standage Inc, Dave Gabriel; VP, Product and Education, U-lesson, Desiree Craig; and Dr. Akintoye Akindele, Chairman, Platform Capital.
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