Group inaugurates new learning assessment plan

A group of individuals working on a set of initiatives to improve the quality of education in the country has launched a new survey programme that will give citizens an opportunity to assess educational projects.

According to the promoters, the community-based survey and evaluation will drive the programme, called LEARNigeria.

The inauguration of the initiatives via the Nigerian Education Summit took place in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The Chairman, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Mr. Foluso Philips, who addressed the participants, said the county needed to take urgent steps to salvage the future of education.

According to him, the country cannot continue to ignore the dwindling state of its education.

Philips said, “Roughly 10.5 million children are out of school; roughly one in five children are Nigerians; in the past six years, 70 per cent of secondary school leavers fail the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations, meaning that those in schools are not learning much. These are statistics that should bother us.”

The assessment programme, he said, was among the key issues agreed on at last year’s Nigeria Economic Summit, which focused on education.

The education sector, he added, was too important to be in the hands of government alone.

He, therefore, called on the private sector and individuals to take active interest in the performance of the sector and to contribute to its revival.

Philips added, “The NES established the fact that education is central to transforming Nigeria into one of the most competitive economies in the world in the 21st century. It concluded that Nigeria deserves an education system that is vision-driven, fit-for-purpose and led by competent professionals. Also, the delegates discussed, debated and established eight critical components central to the transformation of Nigeria’s education system.”

He said the adopt-a-school initiative for which corporate foundations, such as Oando Plc and MTN have shown remarkable leadership, was among the recommendations made at the summit.

Philips, who said LEARNigeria would mobilise volunteers to assess education projects in the country, added that he was confident that the initiative would improve outcome of education budgets.