Change in Education Policies Plays a Greater Role in Job Creation - IAUE Professor Nweke

Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) renowned professor, Prof. Godwin Nweke has said advocated that change in educational policies to a great extent, encourages job creation.

Mar 8, 2024 - 18:34 Updated: Mar 8, 2024 - 18:54

Change in Education Policies Plays a Greater Role in Job Creation - IAUE Professor Nweke

Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) renowned professor, Prof. Godwin Nweke has said advocated that change in educational policies to a great extent, encourages job creation.

A University don, Professor Godwin Nwaeke, has insisted that until the government's education policies are changed to encourage vocational, technical and entrepreneurial education, high unemployment and insecurity in Nigeria will continue to rise.

Prof. Nwaeke asserted in his inaugural lecture titled "May the 'Goose Not Die' in Nigeria" at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education on February 29.

Comparing education to the goose that lays the golden eggs, the Professor of Economics of Education posited that education in Nigeria must be functional and relevant to facilitate national growth and development.

The acquisition of vocational and specific skills, he said, is more crucial than academic schooling alone, while advocating that it should start at the early stage to instil positive values like the dignity of labour, positive work ethics, personal development, and the confidence to adapt to new situations and changes.

He described education as a macroeconomic instrument used to fight unemployment and poverty and reduce insecurity in developing economies and solicited diversification of the economy through relevant macroeconomic policies on agriculture and industrial expansion by giving soft loans to unemployed educated youths to venture into small-scale enterprises.

He attributed the lamentable situation of the Nigerian educational system to poor budgetary allocation to the sector, decrying the situation where Nigeria is in the last position with 8.4% behind Cote D'Ivoire at 30.1%, Lesotho at 17.0% and Burkina Faso at 16.8% respectively, just as the budgetary allocation to defence in 2023 was 13.4% ahead of 8.7% to education and 1.1% to agriculture.

With Nigeria's unemployment at 33.3% and poverty rate hitting 85.0% in the same year, Prof. Nwaeke maintained that the prevailing socioeconomic situation entices youths to crime and violence as a means of livelihood, as he observed that Nigeria's faulty education system that offers literacy without functionality is what has brought the country to its current situation.

He also regretted the high level of institutional corruption in Nigeria's public education system, as he called for a concerted effort to reposition education in Nigeria to boost national development because what makes a nation productive is the knowledge and skill of the workforce.

Prof. Nwaeke recommended the need to strengthen university-industry collaboration by bringing experts from the industrial sector to make inputs in the university curriculum to reflect the needs of the industries, adding that such experts should teach part-time at the higher levels of education instead of the theoretical entrepreneurship programmes practised at the universities.

In his remarks, the Acting Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Okechuku Onuchuku, reiterated a call for a system of education that would empower students to identify challenges and turn them into small-scale businesses rather than waiting for employment.

He advocated proper funding to the universities and emphasised the need for research that solves societal problems rather than gaining promotion while insisting on synergy between the universities and the industry to translate research findings into products and services to improve society.

Meanwhile, the Acting Registrar, Mr Donald Okogbaa, described Prof. Nwaeke as a brilliant scholar and applauded him for making the university proud.