World Education Forum: Science, Technical Education, Priority For Bayelsa, Says Gov Diri

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has said that his administration focuses on science and technical education in order to produce young people with hands-on skills relevant for employment and job creation.

Governor Diri also stated that his government's paradigm shift from paper qualification education was in tandem with global trends in education.

The Bayelsa governor spoke on Wednesday in an interview with the Times Higher Education Magazine on the sidelines of the World Education Forum holding in London, United Kingdom.

He emphasised the primacy of education to be able to build a decent society and to spur socio-economic growth and development.

He noted that a society that neglected education would be the breeding ground for criminal elements.

His words: “What we did when we came on board was moving away from paper qualification towards science and technical education. Leveraging on science, technical and vocational education strengthens our state in the area of job creation. Unemployment is a big issue in Nigeria and you cannot run away from tapping the benefits of science and technology, which is what the whole world is doing now, particularly with the introduction of artificial intelligence. My team and I are actually looking at how to introduce it in our curriculum.

“So our strength lies in our ability to sustain what we have started with science and technical education and get our people to key in as opposed to producing young ones without the basic skills for the employment market.”

According to him, education was the key to socio-economic growth and development.

“I'm of the view that if you do not build schools or key into education, the other option is to build prisons as you will have a society full of criminals. If you do not want to go that route, the key to freeing the mind of the people and for them to contribute to the growth of the society is education. Education is everything that a society needs. It is what liberates your mind and gives you the right personality that enables you fit in anywhere you find yourself.

“In Bayelsa, we would have a major problem if we ignore education to pursue something else. For us, education is the major focus.

“You either have the knowledge or the skills that will impact your life. As a former teacher, I know that if you are not educated, you will be something else. By this, I'm not referring to only classroom education as it has to be both formal and informal education.”

On how the state’s educational system was responding to disruptions from climate change, Diri said it was a major concern and that Bayelsa had its peculiar challenges different from how it is viewed internationally.

“In our state, we also have the issue of oil pollution, which has exacerbated the effects of climate change. When we came on board, we discovered that our academic calendar and the education curriculum did not meet the needs of our state. So we had a paradigm shift that led to establishing science and technical colleges in our local government areas and fully equipped them.

“The other thing we did was that we went into digital learning at the basic education level with the introduction of BayelsaPRIME (Bayelsa Promoting Reforms to Improve and Modernise Education). This method helped us to monitor what happens in our schools as well as provide the proper learning content for pupils in our primary schools.”

No fewer than 1300 policy makers and about 150 education and skills ministers from over 130 countries, including Nigeria, were participants in the four-day World Education Forum summit.