Education in Africa stands at a crossroads, confronting dual challenges related to the juxtaposition of existing deficits with the rapidly evolving demands of the Digital Age. Despite the work across several African countries to turn the tide, the number of out-of-school children across the continent remains stubbornly high.

And with the rapid advancement of 21st-century technologies presenting new challenges, such as the increasing necessity for digital fluency, African educational systems must adapt swiftly to remain relevant and competitive.

The duality of Africa's educational challenges requires such a forward-thinking policy mix. This is a different approach aiming to address the root causes of underlying issues. It manages development instead of implementing band-aid solutions and projects that manage poverty.

The Federal Government through the National Board for Technical Education has reviewed the curriculum for polytechnics across the country, introducing entrepreneurial courses to address the nation’s unemployment challenge.

“The future of Nigerian youths is not in paper qualification but the ability to become a worthwhile entrepreneur,” the Executive Secretary of NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, said at a workshop for academics in polytechnics and other technical institutions across the country in Abuja on Wednesday.

He emphasized that entrepreneurship plays a critical role in the ability of graduates to either be employed or independent, hence the need to take entrepreneurship development seriously.

A non-governmental organisation, Youth Advocate for Change through its slum-to-classroom project has emphasised the importance of educators gaining exposure to the latest trends and best practices to achieve excellence in their classrooms.

A statement by the group said through innovative teaching methodologies, educators would gain confidence in using educational technology with their students. As such it explained that it had concluded plans to hold a one-day training workshop for teachers and school owners living in slum communities in Lagos State.

The event tagged, ‘Teach, Inspire, and Innovate for better learning outcomes,’ will be held on the 16th of May in Lagos for teachers and school owners.

The Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative has received funding from the United Kingdom government, through the Digital Access Program of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, to execute a multifaceted initiative aimed at addressing the environmental impact of Nigeria’s expanding technology ecosystem.

According to a statement from AREAi, the project will be spearheaded through a series of activities encompassing evidence generation, knowledge management and mobilisation, incentivised capacity development, media-driven public awareness campaigns, and high-level policy advocacy initiatives.

Furthermore, the intervention aims to align technology sector producers, consumers, and stakeholders with eco-conscious practices, fostering a greener and more sustainable future for Nigeria’s digital landscape.

It has been observed that, despite the urgency of educational improvements, Nigeria is failing to make sufficient progress at a sufficient rate.

The observation was contained in a presentation titled ‘Realities of OOSC in Nigeria: What is Working’ by Abdurrahman Ibrahim Ado Education Specialist, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, at the opening of a two-day Regional Stakeholders Engagement Meeting on out-of-School Children and the Retention, Transition and Completion Models in Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa states at Emerald Hotel Hall, Gombe, Gombe State.

He stressed that 1 in 3 children are OOS in Nigeria, more than 18 million total across Primary and Junior Secondary levels alone, which account for more than 15% of global OOS children and well over half of the OOSC in the region of West and Central Africa.

Gombe State Commissioner for Education, Professor Aishatu Maigari, has commended the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for it’s commitment towards the growth of education in the State.

The Commissioner made the commendation when the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Tushar Rane, visited Kwadon Central Primary School, Yamaltu-Deba LGA to assess some of their interventions in education in the State.

After going round to see how the new methods adopted in the learning process of the pupils, the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Tushar Rane, expressed happiness seeing the children learning through the new methods.

The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has launched a training programme for 1,480 teachers from rural and hard-to-reach schools across the country. The programme aims to equip teachers with multigrade and mixed ability teaching approaches to address the growing learning crisis in Nigeria.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Abuja, UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, highlighted the challenges of providing quality education in rural areas, where attracting and retaining qualified teachers is difficult.

“In the rural and hard to reach areas, the provision of quality education is challenging as attracting and retaining qualified teachers is difficult and this causes parents/guardians to be less inclined in enrolling their children in school or be withdrawing them from school since their education needs are not met.

The Senate, on resumption, passed two education-related bills for second reading on Tuesday.
The bills were “A Bill for an Act to Establish the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration and other Matters Connected Therewith, 2024” and “A Bill for an Act to Establish the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Manchok, Kaduna State and for other Matters Connected Therewith, 2024.”

The bills progressed amid observations by some senators that creating additional institutions now appeared to be at cross-purposes with the Federal Government’s bid to prune the number of agencies and reduce the cost of governance.

Nigeria’s budget for 2024 is N28.7 trillion. Out of the figure, N8.76tn is to be spent on the maintenance of public bureaucracy, better known as recurrent (Non-debt) expenditure, though the capital expenditure this time round is N9.99tn.

The Acting Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Mr. Chris J. Maiyaki, has said that the Commission was poised to ensure full implementation of the recently launched Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) by all universities in Nigeria.

He said this recently when the NUC played host to the leadership of Association of Registrars of Nigerian Universities (ARNU), who paid a courtesy visit to the NUC to seek recognition and partnership in the implementation of its programmes.

Maiyaki stated that Registrars were the nexus of university academic and administrative activities, adding that they were also the drivers of policies in the system. He called on ARNU to, in conjunction with other relevant stakeholders in the system, ensure full implementation of the CCMAS, as the document was now a reference document for NUC Resource Verification going forward.

During the retreat, the Pro-Chancellor of Elizade University and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Olufemi Bamiro, delivered a paper titled, ‘An overview of university governance in today’s Nigerian economic climate.’

Bamiro highlighted the numerous internal and external forces impacting the university system, describing them as centrifugal forces. He lamented the government’s perception of education as a burden rather than an investment for transformation.

Bamiro urged both academic and non-academic staff to fulfill their responsibilities diligently, emphasising the importance of embracing innovation, creativity, and soft skills to produce globally competitive graduates.

As artificial intelligence tools continue to evolve, their potential to transform academic research is becoming increasingly apparent. From facilitating comprehensive literature reviews and identifying hidden research gaps to analysing massive datasets and visually presenting complex information.

AI is empowering researchers to tackle tasks once thought insurmountable. Amidst the excitement and promise of this new frontier, it is crucial to acknowledge the challenges and ethical considerations it presents.

Reimagining the dynamic between human and artificial intelligence requires a fundamental recalibration of researchers’ roles and responsibilities and the cultivation of a collaborative ecosystem that integrates human ingenuity with AI capabilities.

Cavista Technology, a subsidiary of Cavista Holdings has said its Hackathon initiative, which is in its second year running, will help address digital skills gap in Nigeria, while helping technology solution developers to develop solutions that will address local and global challenges.

Executive Director, Cavista Holdings, Mr. Bamidele Odufuye, said this at the weekend in Lagos during its second hackathon competition, where over 150 students from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State University (LASU) and Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, pitched their solutions.

“The Cavista Hackathon, which started last year, is part of our contribution to address the digital skills shortage in the country. Hackathon like this helps to identify talents and further expose them to acquire digital skills that are needed in the technology space, both locally and internationally.