Nigeria’s
economic woes and rising unemployment is a result of a faulty
educational system, arising from a lack of practical teaching of
science-based subjects in institutions, the Federal Ministry Education
has said.
The Deputy Director, Science Education,
Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs Grace Takerhi, made the assertion in
an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
Takerhi spoke with NAN at the 20th
National Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) competition
in one of the oldest schools in Lagos, CMS Grammar School, Bariga.
She said that the only way to stem the rising unemployment was practical teaching of science-based subjects.
NAN reports that the 20th edition of the
JETS Competition got underway on Tuesday with students from across the
country displaying their talents.
The theme of the competition is “Enhancing Food Security through Science and Technology Application’’.
Reflecting on the promotion of technical
studies to enhance national wealth and economic recovery, Takerhi said
that only qualitative teaching with practical experience could create
self-employment and entrepreneurship.
“If we look at our educational system
and the attendant rising unemployment, we will see that there is a
convergence and that is the lack of practical teaching for science-based
courses in our institutions.
“If we also look at what is happening,
graduates from science-based courses are looking for jobs in Federal
Ministry of Education. What is the relevance of their courses to where
they are seeking careers?
“If the institutions are well equipped
for practical teachings, the students will understand their courses and
will know how to make use of the courses to employ themselves rather
than looking for employments.
“Nigeria needs to bridge the disconnect
between classroom teachings and practical teachings and meet the real
life situation on ground. Sciences are meant to solve societal problems
not adding to it,’’ she said.
Takerhi said that the problem of lack of
practical had also been compounded by the lack of placements for
Industrial Training Attachment for the students in science-related
courses.
“Right now, we are having a lot of
challenges when our students apply for placement for their industrial
attachments which is one of the basics of practical teaching in
scientific applications.
“Many of these students are roaming
about the streets looking for where to have the needed experience with
no company to absorb them. Yet they need this experience and if they
don’t get it how will they learn?
“We need collaborative effort of
government and the organised private sector in this regard to work out
modalities that will make it compulsory and easier for the students to
get placement for attachments.
“Private organisations should not reject
those students or else our educational system will continued to be in
the doldrums,’’ she said.
Takerhi said that the specialised
schools for technical education should be well funded to enhance the
practical learning of vocational studies.
“Our technical institutions need a lot
of improvements so as to face the practical teachings of vocational
studies. The names are just there, but they don’t have enough materials
for practicals.
“Facilities such as well-equipped
laboratories, technical workshops and vocational training equipment must
be provided. What this translates to is that there should be more
budgetary allocation to technical schools.
“We need to fight education tourism by providing enough funding.
“There is an increase in enrollment of
students in science-based courses now so we need to also play our part
in ensuring that we provide the funds.
“The only way this nation can attain the
highest height in wealth creation is through technical education and
vocational studies and we need to expand our frontiers in supplying
enough funds,’’ she said
NAN reports that the participants in the
JETS competition are students from primary and secondary schools from
across the country.
They are expected to come up with local
inventions that could help to solve some societal engineering and
scientific problems under the supervision of their teachers.
The competition has about 500 students and JETS Coordinators from the states.
This year’s edition recorded a huge
success as students developed inventions that could stand the test of
time. All the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
had stands to display the ingenuity of the junior engineers and
scientists.
Source: Thenationonline
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