Defining New Standards

The 6334 system of education in the country is the same as most in other countries of the world. But the impact of outcomes shows that the system is one thing whilst the quality and standards, in relation to economic growth is another.

This premise is presented: At the minimum, every learner, having passed through this system develops the foundational skills, knowledge and understanding required for daily social interaction; this includes, almost exclusively, negotiation and value-generation skills. These skills, for example, largely refer to the learner’s ability to understand contexts and points of view, question opinions and propose alternative ideas. Also, one should find – from these interactions – a clear expression of thought, based in persuasion, particularly when propositions and arguments are made in a way that suggests an appreciation for notion and argument. These, at the minimum cater to the requirements for being identified as a competent learner, with the capability to both participate and compete with others, globally.

The resultant effect of learners receiving education, considering a poor equity profile, means that health, gender issues, wealth distribution, nutrition, amongst other factors, are directly proportional to education and high – quality standards. Where education is threatened on this basis, there is a cycle and recurrence of challenges that ultimately put the country’s economy and national development at risk.

Nigeria's equity profile in child labour, early marriage in girls and young women, female genital mutilation, attitudes toward domestic violence, according to UNICEF's Multiple Indication Cluster Survey (MICS) 2007, MICS 2011 and DHS (Demographic and Health Survey) 2013 studies present a challenge. This challenge can be seen in scenarios such as emotional and physical abuse in a learner’s immediate environment; the environment, for instance, occurs at home, school, or communal play. With this, there is an instant limitation to meeting the requirements for social interaction in a context that presents an intellectual and “technologically aware” society, even at a very basic level, and in a global sense. Nonetheless, the plans and strategies that are built on the 6334 system do not take these issues into account or define alternative standards that cater to quality and outcomes on one hand and recurring national equity issues on the other.

Assuming that the defined premise is appropriate and fitting, there is the proposition to revise the content and strategies for knowledge delivery laid out in curricula and schemes, in a way that support the changes and advancements, for example, in a digital age, and these changes may be subsequently seen in the quality and outcomes of education. This also invariably define and set new standards that, at first, isolate and independently address the matter of developing intellectually and socially advanced global learners, and then progressively aim to raise the country's equity profile, rather than attempt to develop learners to participate in a contemporary digital world, from the inadequacies of the current standard of education.