Finland Envoy, Okonedo, Pearson to Grace Lagos Education Summit

Funmi Ogundare

The Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, H.E. Leena Pylvanainen; the Vice Chancellor, Pan Atlantic University, Prof.essor Enase Okonedo;  the British Council Country Director, Ms. Lucy Pearson; Mr. Josiah Ajiboye  of Teachers Registration Council (TRCN) and Mr. Tunde Adekola of the World Bank Office, amongst others, are among the dignitaries expected at the 2022 Lagos State Education Summit with the theme “Creating a Sustainable Fit-For-Purpose Education Model” and sub-themed “Prioritising Education in the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda and the 30 Year Lagos Development Plan,” which is scheduled to hold at the Eko Hotels and Suites, on August 30 and 31.

The programme is aimed at harnessing resources and best brains from across the world to deliver the desired quality education to learners.

Other stakeholders expected at the summit include public and private educators, school owners and administrators, parents, students, education researchers, NGOs, education consultants and private sector development partners.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, who briefed journalists yesterday in Lagos said that the summit would explore a holistic approach to education and lifelong learning from early childhood to higher education, which is necessary for developing, re-skilling and enhancing an active population and to make education in the state fit-for-purpose.

Adefisayo said: “The 2022 education summit is no doubt bumper packed, with well-versed speakers and panelists who have over the years garnered experience from various fields and are ready to share for the education development of Lagos State and Nigeria.

“They are expected to do justice to the topic of discuss in line with the Lagos State education transformation plan and allow for robust participation of all stakeholders. The summit will be hybrid for physical and virtual participation.” 

She noted that the summit would afford the Federal Ministry of Education, other federal education agencies and state commissioners of education across the country an opportunity to co-share ideas for the development of education in Nigeria.

She mentioned the following educational agencies and institutions such as “the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Examination Council (NECO), education research institutes and university will also participate in the conversation at the summit,” among those that would co-share ideas during the summit.

The Chairman, Lagos State Teaching Service Commission, Mrs. Elizabeth Ariyo, expressed concern about a recent interview conducted by her office for graduates, saying that their performance was nothing to write home about.

Ariyo said that the performance is among the reasons the state government would be organising the summit, adding that graduates must be marketable and their mindset changed.

According to her, “we discovered that if we keep on doing the same thing, we will not expect a change. We need to create a fit- for- all educational system. When our students graduate, they must be marketable and have something to do.

“We should not just produce graduates that can write good English, but we need to change their mindset towards making them very useful to the society and when they are useful to the society, there will be economic growth.”

All participants are expected to register via the link; www.lagoseducationsummit.com.