TETFund Boss Calls For Digitisation In Tertiary Institutions

Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) executive secretary Sonny Echono has stated that the Nigeria education system must redefine both content and pedagogy, saying it is high time the nation’s higher institutions shifted from transmission to transformation.

Echono in his remark as the guest lecturer at the event to mark the 26th convocation ceremony tagged, “Higher Education the Digital Age” delivered at Lagos State University, (LASU) Buba Marwa Hall, Ojo, stressed that the evolution of the digital age bridges the gap while providing hybrid forms of learning and access in society as the TETFund is playing a pivotal role in the evolution through digitisation and ICT-driven initiatives.

“It is therefore imperative, as gatekeepers and avant-garde of tertiary education, to think differently about educational leadership, and to design a new pathway, using digital literacy as a disruptive foundation.

“We must also engender new perspectives and practices by employing emerging models of curriculum delivery.  At no time in our history has there been a louder call for our education to be more relevant and transformative,” he said.

Echono asserted that the challenge facing higher educational institutions in Nigeria presently is similar to what is afflicting institutions of learning in some other countries of the globe.

He affirmed that the method of teaching and learning which are now outdated and retrogressive must be redefined to make giant strides in the world where Artificial intelligence, Robotics, and modern technology dictates the pace of technological development.

While emphasizing that to survive and succeed in the current innovation-driven economy where technology is increasingly dominating all aspects of life and work, graduates from Nigerian institutions would need a different mix of skills than in the past to thrive and make a headway in life.

He said it is pertinent to implore innovation in tertiary education and think differently about educational leadership while designing a new pathway, using digital literacy as a disruptive foundation.

He, however, affirms that as a nation, we must engender new perspectives and practices by employing emerging models of curriculum delivery since at no time in our history has there been a louder call for our education to be more relevant and transformative.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) executive secretary, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed lauded LASU’s VC Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello for making the institution one of the most sought-after citadel of learning in the country, with 70 courses out of 71 accredited by the NUC, and its ICT implementation in learning has earned the institution over 90 per cent record in the NUC chart of higher institutions in Nigeria.

He added that the NUC has concluded the review of over a thousand courses to be adapted into the curriculum with 70 percent in accordance with the commission’s framework and 30 percent of the courses aligned with the higher institution course framework.

In her address, the Lagos State University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji Bello said she considered it an honour to have in attendance the NUC boss, Prof Abubakar Rasheed, and the convocation lecturer, Arch Sonny T Echono for the thought-provoking discourse with a call for digitisation in higher education, and the ideas that will spur revolution in the nation’s tertiary institutions.