Nigerian pianist and music educator Babatunde Oluwaseyi Shosanya has called for a rehaul of Nigeria’s music and general education system.
The former Head of Music, British International School Lagos, who has played in several crème de la crème events and spaces said education is the key to nation building and thus there is need for government to work with educators to overhaul Nigeria’s present curriculum to meet up to global standards.
“Teaching is a noble profession that shapes the character, caliber and future of an individual. Music education in particular, develops the intelligence quotient of people greatly, in every sphere of their lives. Music education, however, cannot be in isolation, so it is high time our government looks inward and invest heavily on teacher training and welfare.
“Transforming the culture of education and improving working conditions for teachers in the country should be government’s priority.”
Shosanya further challenged his fellow educators do their part by being up-to-date in their field of knowledge or practice, as that is the key to innovative learning and to making knowledge attractive to students.
“As educators, we must be catalysts for an emerging future. John C Maxwell said “Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” I’m bold to say Nigeria has a lot of brilliant and potential teachers that can salvage the situation of our education sector, recover it, in addition to, bring it to limelight.
I believe we are up to the task to transform our noble profession. Let us begin to prepare for future challenges, as educators. Let us begin to make a difference in peoples’ lives, embrace technology and train ourselves to be responsible for developing and adding value to our nation,” he concluded.
