Education: ECOWAS Parliament Driving Curriculum Alignment To Socio-Economic Needs

The Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Parliament) has taken the gauntlet to transform education in West Africa by driving the process to align school curriculum to the socio-economic needs and integration process of the region.

This was one of the main points of discussion   at the closing of the delocalized meeting of the regional legislature in Lome, Togo, at the weekend. This discussion was a pathway to interrogate the variables that nurture education and how to improve investment in the sector, which has been identified as the cornerstone of the region’s quest for economic development.

During the discussion tagged “Strengthening Curriculum Alignment with Socio-Economic Needs of the ECOWAS Region”, Speaker of the Parliament, Rt. Hon. Memounatou Ibrahima explained that education remains a multiplier and a necessity if the sub-region will truly achieve its dream of integration, adding that it has become incumbent on regional leaders to prioritize it.

The meeting brought together the ECOWAS committee on Education, Science and Culture/ Committee on Health/ Committee on Telecommunications and Information Technology.

Ibrahima said: “If the ECOWAS intends to be more than a geographical space, if it intends to be a community in the broadest sense, then our greatest investment must be in the minds and capacities of our people. Because, after all, it is not the borders that define integration, it is the ability of our citizens to shape a prosperous future. Distinguished members, ladies and gentlemen, today we collectively know a true fundamental truth. Our curriculum must reflect the realities of our economies.

“The future of our young population depends not only on the process of education, but also on the relevance of this education for agriculture, technology, the transformative industry, renewable energies, creative industries, entrepreneurship and regional value chains. Western Africa is a demographic enclosure, with one of the youngest populations in the world.”

Represented by the Chairman of the joint Committee on Education, Hon. Orlando Pereira Diaz, a member of the Cape Verdean delegation to ECOWAS Parliament,  Ibrahima said “Education continues to be the cornerstone of this aspiration, because it is the great multiplier.

“It transforms competence into productivity. It converts the demographic system into economic power. Regional integration ceases to be a political theory and becomes a reality,” she said.

The Togolese Speaker told stakeholders, education managers and students that “regional integration is not only sustained in agreements, but also in human capacity. It is driven by sufficiently qualified citizens to compete, sufficiently innovative to solve problems, and sufficiently capable to lead the change.

“In fact, an agrarian union can facilitate trade, but only an established population can generate wealth. Political stability can provide empowerment, but only knowledge and competence can provide that empowerment with progress. When our people are qualified, our industries grow. When people are innovative, our economies diversify. When citizens are empowered, our democracies deepen.”

The reforms of the education curriculum have become more relevant because modern development is a function of education linked with industry. West Africa is blessed with the potential, especially the youth with energy and creativity to drive the process.

It is therefore apt that policy makers in the region must become more intentional in initiating policies and programmes that will change the fortunes of the sector in order to bridge the gap between education and labour.

This will enhance the capacity of the youth in ECOWAS member states and build their skills to take advantage of the youthful demographic dividends to avoid the consequences of unemployment and migration.

The Parliament appears dutiful and diligent to make resolutions that will embrace this vibrant youth demography and tailor their energies to development in crucial sectors or risk the severe consequences of unemployment, migration and social instability if it fails to do so.

The alignment of curricula to the experiences of the labour market is not a mere reform but is an economic imperative and a security strategy which has triggered enormous interest from the regional  legislators as they pledged the support of the regional parliament to provide needed supervision and harmonisation to transform education in the sub-region.

The Speaker said further that “We must strengthen cooperation between governments, universities, technical institutions, private sector agents and government partners to ensure that what is taught in our schools can correspond to our objectives and to what is necessary in our economies. The organisation of qualifications between Member States will facilitate the mobility of workers.

Komi Selom Klassou, President of the National Assembly of Togo, warned that a widening gap between education and labour market needs could create a persistent cycle of economic stagnation and social instability and called for urgent measures to bridge the gap.

It is imperative to appreciate that investment in education, training, technical and professional will strengthen the role of the parliament on fundamental competences for superior practices. In this modern era therefore digital literacy must become central and not optional and the promotion of research and innovation linked to digital technology will be of highest value.