November 15, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) has lamented the decline in the quality of entrants into Nigerian universities.
President of NAL, Professor Sola Akinrinade, expressed the concern on Tuesday, at a policy review workshop on “Strengthening the Educational System in Nigeria Through STEAM” organised by the Nigerian Academy of Science, Nigerian Academy of Letters and the Nigerian Young Academy (NYA), which was sponsored by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board in Abuja.
Calling for urgent intervention to reverse the worrying situation, Akinrinade said the poor performance of Nigerian university entrants spans across disciplinary groups, making it evident that a holistic approach is required to address the situation.
While arguing that the standards at the Basic and Senior Secondary Levels have increased, he noted that the root of the problem lies in the implementation of these standards, which have become suspect over the years.
“The poor performance of Nigerian university entrants spans across disciplinary groups, making it evident that a holistic approach is required to address this multifaceted issue. Professor Akinrinade stressed the importance of comprehensive interventions in overcoming these challenges.
“Our problem has to do with the implementation of the standards, capacity for which has become suspect over the years. The poor performance transcends the boundaries of disciplinary groups hence, interventions such as ours must be holistic.
“The importance of STEAM education as a critical factor in the sustainable and inclusive development of a country such as ours cannot be over-emphasised.
“If Properly implemented, STEAM education encourages innovation, reduces poverty, and provides beneficiaries with the appropriate tools to improve their lives and those of others. If, through this intervention, we succeed in building alliances for the proper implementation of STEAM education at the Basic and Senior Secondary levels in the country, we will have made a great investment in the lives of future generations of Nigerian youths.
“The ultimate beneficiary is our dear country cannot overemphasise the importance of what we are doing here this week.
“We are going to achieve our objectives of building a knowledge-based economy through STEAM education, then we cannot discountenance the importance of proper policy planning. Great ideas such as this need proper planning for its implementation process to achieve its purpose. We need to focus on how to make STEAM relevant to our problems at both national and sub-national levels and it is in meetings like this that we can aggregate perspectives and propose ways forward for us as a country.
“I am sure, the participants present are more than capable of fashioning the way forward for us.
“I, therefore, challenge every stakeholder involved, not just those present at this programme, to engage with the process. Happily, most of the critical institutional stakeholders have been invited to join this programme.
“The Nigerian Academy of Letters and the Nigerian Academy of Science have come together to lead the process, but we are certainly not the only stakeholders required. We need to promote inclusiveness as much as possible. Bringing all those that matter together is not easy and is very expensive. That is why we owe a mountain of gratitude to the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board and its leadership for financially supporting this NAL/NAS/NYA initiative.
“The workshop aimed at bringing together stakeholders from academia, government agencies, industry leaders, and educational practitioners to brainstorm and develop effective solutions.
“By incorporating STEAM, it is hoped that a more innovative and integrated approach can be adopted to nurture well-rounded and capable individuals,” he said.
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