Oyo State Government, on Friday, said that the distribution of letters of appointment to 5,600 newly recruited basic school teachers in the state will begin on Monday, January 6, 2025. The distribution exercise will take place at the Universal Basic Education office in all local government areas across the state.

The Chairman of the state Universal Basic Education Board, Nureni Adeniran, stated this during a meeting with Education Secretaries in Ibadan, the state capital. He charged the new teachers to be innovative and embrace modern techniques and approaches in imparting knowledge.

Adeniran, who restated the board’s zero tolerance for examination malpractices, said the new teachers’ appointments take effect from January 1st, 2025. He, however, noted that about 12 local governments are overloaded with teachers, while some local governments are understaffed, saying a redistribution will be done to ensure equity and justice.

SDG 4 is the United Nations’ goal to ensure quality education for all and promote life-long learning. The report also predicted that over two billion jobs may be lost globally due to automation, as technology is rapidly changing the labour market and the demand for skills required to be productive. The report was titled: Teachers and technology: What can we do to support educators to prepare students for the future?

It added that as new technological innovations occur, including Artificial Intelligence, AI, 44 percent of workers’ skills are likely to be disrupted in the next five years. “Technology is rapidly altering the labour market and the demand for skills required to be productive. Half of today’s jobs—around two billion—are expected to disappear due to automation by 2030.

“As new technological innovations occur, including artificial intelligence, 44% of workers’ skills are likely to be disrupted in the next five years, underlining the need for learning to keep up with changing market demands.

In 2024, amid escalating conflicts, accelerating climate change, and rising inequalities, UNESCO kept education high on the global agenda. From data-driven policy-making to education for peace, climate change, digital transformation, and teacher empowerment. It addressed critical education challenges and made the case for increased financing to empower people through learning.

Following the historic adoption of UNESCO’s 2023 Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development, the International Day of Education 2024 was dedicated to education for peace and the role education and teachers play in countering hate speech, a phenomenon which has snowballed in recent years with the use of social media, damaging the fabric of our societies.

Sustaining political momentum in education is at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate to coordinate the UN’s global education goal (SDG 4). In June, the SDG4 High-Level Steering Committee, co-chaired by UNESCO’s Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, and the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, convened a stocktake of transformative actions in education since the 2022 Transforming Education Summit.

As economic hardship continues to bite harder on most Nigerians, the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has again called on the Federal Government to, without further delay, pay the three and half months salaries of members withheld due to the nationwide industrial action embarked upon by the public university lecturers in 2022.

The salaries were withheld when the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari invoked a “No Work, No Pay Policy” against some university-based unions that embarked on a strike that lasted eight months in 2022.

The union also urged the government to release the check-off dues of members equally seized during the same period, maintaining that its members did not join the strike at the time. The union made the appeal in a statement signed by its Southwest zone coordinator, and chairperson at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife chapter, Dr Folasade Hunsu.

A Non-Governmental Organization, FlexiSAF Foundation, has advocated for every child rights to education in Nigeria at the end of its concluded annual walk and maiden global initiative edition. This, it said, is in furtherance of its vision and mandate to advocate for and provide access to quality and inclusive education for indigent children.

A statement by the Foundation’s Communications Lead, Amina Abbas, explained that this year’s walk advocated for every child’s right to education and highlighted the alarming number of out-of-school children in Nigeria of about 20 million, which is the highest in the world.

This year’s theme, “Every Step Counts: Securing the Future Amidst Economic Challenges,” emphasized the urgent need to support children’s education during a period of significant economic hurdles. From December 2–16, 2024, individuals and organizations across the globe united for the cause by walking in their local communities, sharing their experiences on social media, and inspiring others to join in this vital effort.

Ensuring the success of the Pre-Primary sector is crucial for laying a strong foundation for a child's academic journey. Teachers play a vital role in this process, particularly in identifying learning difficulties and disabilities in children.

The Minister of Education and Human Resource, Dr Mahend Gungapersad, made this statement, yesterday afternoon, at the Paul Octave Wiehe Auditorium in Réduit, during a meeting with stakeholders of the Pre-Primary sub-sector.

The meeting, aimed at uniting stakeholders to enhance early childhood education, address challenges, and foster collaboration for young learners' development, was held as part of the preparation for L'Assise de l'Éducation, scheduled for April 2025.

How can African higher education systems create more opportunities for quality jobs? Can the global remote freelancing job market be transformed into decent work for Africans? Is there a growing talent pool in Africa that can accelerate the continent’s socio-economic development?

These are some of the questions that education experts attending the 23rd International Economic Forum on Africa 2024 tried to answer in Paris earlier in December. The forum was organised jointly by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Development Centre, African Sports & Creative Institute and the African Union Commission.

The OECD is an intergovernmental body with 38 member countries whose main agenda is stimulating economic progress and global trade. In a webinar themed, ‘The Future of Education and Skills In Africa’, the experts appeared to agree that African higher education is at a crossroads as it is expected to provide in-demand job skills to a vast working-age population, which will double by 2050, accounting for 85% of the global increase.

The economic crisis in Nigeria has been taking its toll on lecturers and many are considering taking other full-time jobs. Inflation and the rising cost of living became a serious challenge for Nigeria’s citizens immediately after the newly elected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared in his inaugural speech on 29 May 2023 that the “[fuel] subsidy is gone”. Fast forward to December 2024 and a litre of fuel costs between NGN1,040 (US$0.67) and NGN1,120 (US$0.72) depending on selling stations – a massive increase from the price of NGN145 in 2023 before the subsidy’s removal.

With 70% of academics earning salaries ranging from about US$66 to US$121, taking care of their families, buying food and fuel for daily transportation to and from work and medical expenses have become unaffordable.

It was in this context earlier this year that 30 PhD holders resigned from Bauchi State University over poor salaries and conditions of service, according to the university’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), reported Punch.

The Industrial Training Fund in collaboration with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association recently celebrated the graduation of 60 trainees from its ITF-NECA Technical Skills Development Project at the ISTC Training Centre in Ikeja.

The event, held on Thursday, marked the 13th graduation ceremony since the program’s inception at ISTC Ikeja in 2009, highlighting its ongoing success in empowering Nigerian youth with practical, employable skills.

In a ceremony attended by industry leaders, the graduates were celebrated for their commitment and accomplishments across various technical fields, including automobile mechanics, welding and fabrication, electrical and electronics maintenance, ICT, instrumentation and process control, and mechanical machining and maintenance.

At the 10th Anniversary Ceremony of STEM METS held in Lagos, experts called for a stronger emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. CEO of STEM METS, Jadesola Adedeji, said that through engaging in STEM-based activities and programs, the organization has empowered thousands of
young Africans, equipping them with the essential skills needed to thrive in the global economy.

Adedeji stated, “A decade ago, we began with a dream to make education more exciting, more hands-on, and most importantly, more transformative. We envisioned a world where learning went beyond textbooks cramming and regurgitating, to a world where every child can experiment, build, create, and imagine.

In these ten years, this dream has become a movement where we have reached over 30,000 students, educating them with skills in robotics, coding, engineering, and more. Our programs have inspired young children to dream big, enabling students to innovate solutions for real-world challenges, and equipping educators with the tools to nurture the next generation of problem solvers.”

President Bola Tinubu said that the Federal Government has so far disbursed N34bn as loans to students studying across the nation’s tertiary institutions through the Nigeria Education Loan Fund.

The President who stated this on Wednesday while presenting the N49.7tn 2025 budget estimates to a joint session of the National Assembly also noted that the government has earmarked a total of N826bn for infrastructural development in the education sector in the 2025 fiscal year.

He said, “Our administration has so far disbursed N34bn to over 300,000 students via the Nigeria Education Loan Fund. “In the 2025 budget, we have made provision for N826.90bn for infrastructure development in the educational sector. This provision also includes those for the Universal Basic Education and the nine new higher educational institutions.

Stakeholders and experts in international higher education have stated that global education and international collaboration are vital to Africa’s sustainable development and future for work. The stakeholders made this known on Wednesday in Lagos during the three-day maiden edition of The International Education (TINE) Africa Changemakers Conference with the theme: ‘Global education, sustainable development and the future of work for Africans’.

The director of Laprinxo Consult and conference convener, Prince Louis Adekola, stated that TINE Africa, founded last year, is a platform for people and organisations working in the international higher education sector. Adekola said the conference is designed to bring visionary leaders, young innovators, entrepreneurs, professionals, and students to proffer relevant and sustainable solutions to Africa’s pressing challenges.

He further said the conference seeks to address what Africans want from global education, how international education institutions can support African students in the diaspora, and how global education can impact sustainable development in Africa.