Skills Acquisition: FG Replicates Massachusetts Institute of Technology in New Curriculum

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

In order to improve employability, skill acquisition and entrepreneurship, the federal government has approved the duplication of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Abuja.

The institute which is set to take off this year would serve as a hub where all the top ideas of growing the country would be incubated and released for the various sectors of the Nigerian economy. According to him, the institute would take off this year.

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu who hinted that the new education curriculum being developed would focus on skills and entrepreneurship in a bid to enhance the employability of graduates, said focus would be on technology, science, engineering among others.

Speaking at a one-day ‘Transforming Education Summit organized by the National Universities Commission (NUC) yesterday in Abuja, the minister who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Sonny Echono  noted that the whole world is now focusing on education because of the central role it plays.

He noted that the summit which is being held ahead of the  global summit in September in  New York, by the United Nations Secretary provides opportunity to brainstorm on the many challenges facing Nigeria’s education sector such as poor funding, out-of-school children among others, as to find sustainable solution and transform the sector.

According to him, five thematic areas have been identified for discussion, “The issue of curriculum for example, it has become important that the education sector should be increasingly more relevant and the changing role of the teacher being a facilitator rather than absolute harbinger of knowledge.  

“The president has approved an institute in Abuja that resembles the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which will serve as a hub where all the top ideas of growing the country will be incubated and released for various sector of our economy. According to him, this institute will take off this year.

“The type of curriculum that will now focus more on skills, entrepreneurship we want to enhance employability.  As we have been preaching, we don’t want to produce graduates that are looking for government employment,” he said.

Also speaking, the Isa Pantami, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy commended the NUC for developing a new curriculum for Nigerian Universities, saying was apt due to the rate of unemployability of graduates in the country.

“We need to provide the relevant skills so that they will be able to confront any challenge and can be able to apply for any job globally,” he said.

Pantami further explained that soft skills were mostly sought after especially in big tech companies such as critical thinking, analytical thinking, collaborative skills, project management, problem solving, presentation skills, among others.

The Chief Education, UNICEF, Saadhna Panday-Soobrayan, in her remark said Nigeria is off-track in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4, saying the pandemic exacerbated the fragility of country’s education systems which was already struggling with poor access to quality learning and low resilience to shock.