It took months of deliberation earlier than Nigeria’s sixteenth president assembled his ministerial crew, with 48 ministers sworn into workplace on August 23, 2023. The cupboard was a group of acquainted faces—former political officeholders embarking on new journeys. Nevertheless, what shocked many was the extended calm that adopted till, 14 months later, a big cupboard reshuffle occurred, ensuing within the merger, abolition, and creation of ministries. Seven new ministers, together with Dr Tunji Alausa, took their oaths of workplace on November 4, 2024.

At his inaugural press convention, Dr Alausa displayed an audacious resolve to deal with longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s schooling sector. He proposed reforms to take away age limits for college admissions, strengthen academic establishments, and promote agriculture-driven options to meals insecurity. His imaginative and prescient additionally included sustaining the abolishment of doubtful certificates issued by unlicensed establishments. Whereas his agenda is daring, the duty forward is monumental, given the sector’s systemic deficiencies.

Training: A basis for societal improvement

Training stays a important driver of societal transformation. But, Nigeria lags woefully behind, allocating simply 30 p.c of UNESCO’s beneficial funds for schooling. The sector is tormented by frequent industrial actions from unions like ASUU, NASU, and SSANU, a proliferation of personal universities, low literacy charges, outdated curricula, poor studying infrastructure, and hovering unemployment. These points collectively undermine the nation’s capability to organize its youth for a aggressive world financial system dominated by synthetic intelligence, robotics, and different disruptive applied sciences.

Training, nevertheless, is now not confined to school rooms. Platforms like YouTube, Udemy, and Coursera, alongside indigenous apprenticeship methods and distance studying programmes, are reshaping entry to information. Recruitment dynamics are additionally shifting, with employers prioritising expertise and competencies over conventional certificates. These realities demand an revolutionary strategy to schooling reform—one which bridges conventional pedagogy with fashionable, adaptive studying methods.

Charting a transformational agenda

If Dr Alausa is really dedicated to overhauling Nigeria’s schooling sector, his roadmap should handle these key areas:

1. Collaborative governance: The Ministry of Training should work intently with different ministries to create cross-sectoral options for meals insecurity, financial improvement, unemployment, and mind drain. Training ought to function a linchpin in nationwide improvement methods.
2. Institutional evaluation: A complete overview of all studying establishments is critical to judge their capability, competence, and alignment with world requirements. This contains strong assessments of directors, lecturers, and facilitators to establish gaps in proficiency.
3. Strategic planning: Dr Alausa should develop a transparent, phased plan addressing institutional deficiencies over the quick, medium, and long run. This roadmap ought to concentrate on measurable outcomes, making certain accountability and progress.
4. Instructor compensation and welfare: Lecturers mustn’t have to attend for the afterlife to obtain their rewards. A overview of compensation packages, aligned with world requirements, is important to draw and retain high expertise. Improved welfare will even inspire educators to ship high quality instruction.
5. Infrastructure revamp: Studying amenities, particularly in rural and underserved areas, want pressing upgrades. Addressing infrastructure gaps will assist scale back the variety of out-of-school kids and enhance the standard of schooling in marginalised communities.
6. Public-private partnerships: Collaboration with the personal sector can present sources for equipping faculties, providing scholarships, and coaching lecturers. Such partnerships will improve entry to high quality schooling whereas decreasing inequalities in academic alternatives.

The street forward

Dr Alausa has inherited a system riddled with inefficiencies and neglect, however his willingness to deal with these challenges head-on is commendable. His success, nevertheless, will depend upon his capability to ship on guarantees, rally stakeholders, and implement reforms that prioritise innovation and inclusivity.

Training is not only a sector—it’s the bedrock of a nation’s improvement. If Nigeria is to compete on the worldwide stage, the transformation of its schooling system can’t be delayed. Dr Alausa’s tenure may both mark a turning level or change into one other missed alternative. The selection is his—and the clock is ticking.

Oluwatosin. E. OLADETAN: ACCA, MBA, PMP, FMVA, BIDA, TRCN, NIM.