Under the auspices of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), secondary school principals have called on relevant stakeholders to take urgent measures to integrate comprehensive entrepreneurship education into the secondary school curriculum across Nigeria, in line with prevailing societal needs.
ANCOPSS made the call in a communique jointly signed by its national president, Alhaji Mohammed Ibn Musa, and its national public relations officer, Samuel Okpe, at the end of its 66th National Congress held in Abuja.
The communique issued at the end of the five-day congress, which had as its theme “Developing Entrepreneurship Education for Secondary Schools in Nigeria”, however, observed that a limited number of formal job opportunities, inadequate infrastructure and a mismatch between skills acquired in formal education and industry constitutes, to a large extent, the unemployment rate that is as high as 42.5 per cent.
The principals said if that is done, it will help to equip students with the necessary competencies to thrive as future entrepreneurs and contribute meaningfully to national economic growth.
They added that principals, who are the key drivers of implementing entrepreneurship education, should be adequately trained on global best practices to foster the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in our schools and contribute to economic growth.
ANCOPSS noted that despite the crucial role of entrepreneurship education in developing knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours necessary for recognising opportunities, generating innovative ideas and effectively identifying societal needs, there remains a notable gap that entrepreneurship education is missing in the Secondary School curriculum.
According to them, the inability of some secondary school administrators to identify entrepreneurship as a critical driver of job creation and economic growth by fostering an entrepreneurial mindset is no doubt one of the reasons students do not have a positive attitude to start their businesses and contribute to the economy to address youth unemployment.
They further observed that school principals’ failure to involve the community, members of school PTAs, and School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) through routine meetings, events, workshops, and Projects that highlight the importance of entrepreneurial skills is a significant constraint to students’ becoming future job creators.
“Stakeholders should implement an entrepreneurship education curriculum that aligns with societal needs by involving industry experts and successful entrepreneurs in practical mentorship of young entrepreneurs in our schools, who will become future job providers.
“Government and other relevant stakeholders should encourage collaborations among school managers, PTA, SBMCs and Community Based Organizations (CBOS) through routine meetings, events, workshops and projects relevant to entrepreneurship education.
“Government at all levels and other relevant agencies are urged to provide necessary capacity-building programmes for school managers, teachers, students, and parents that align with digital literacy and will guarantee digital citizenship.
“There is an urgent need for government and other relevant stakeholders such as network providers to ensure improved availability of electricity, steady internet connectivity and communication network services, to facilitate the actualisation of digital literacy in all secondary schools in Nigeria,” the communique reads.
