The African Union Development Agency’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) has described education as the bedrock and the foundation of national development and economic growth, saying if Nigerian leaders must get it right, they must make education a priority in Nigeria.
The national coordinator and chief executive of the African Union Development Agency – NEPAD, Princess Gloria Akobundu, made the call yesterday at the 1st PAN – African Scientific Research Council (PASR) with the theme: “Rethink Africa’s way forward: Growth through investments in education, technology and health,” organised in Abuja by AUDA-NEPAD Nigeria in collaboration with Africa School of Economics.
Akobundu also expressed support for the use of mother languages to teach students in Nigerian schools, saying that the students can have a better understanding of what they learn when they are taught in their local languages.
“If you look at Agenda 2063 and look at the SDGs, especially goal four, you see that education is key. And like I said, education is key, the bedrock and the foundation of development and economic growth. If we must get it right, we must take education as a priority for the development model or for development in our country and continent at large.
“So, if you look at the NEPAD mandate, and NEPAD special flagship programme on education, innovation, science, and technology is a key for Africa’s development and education.
“Africa is taking education very seriously hence, the support for every quality learning institution, hence the support for skill development, hence the support for innovation development. Look at our teeming youth, active young people, who are very talented, who can be harnessed productively for economic growth and development of our continent,” she said.
While speaking on the use of local languages to teach in Nigerian schools, Akobundu said that English is a borrowed language that is designed to enable easy communication among Nigerians.
“You go out to learn English to enable you to communicate outside there and integrate into the global community. So it should be the same. We should learn to teach our children, especially at the primary or the kindergarten level, that is the level of knowledge building data building, knowledge base.
“If you are teaching a child from the onset that does not understand your English and at the end of the day, the child is growing with little knowledge. I do not think it gives us the desired goal in education,” she said.
