Do More Initiative, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has called on the Federal Government to review Nigeria’s education curriculum to address unemployment and equip young people with practical skills to create jobs.
The Executive Director of the organisation, Deborah Mshelia, made the call on Saturday at the “Upcycle Exhibition” organised by the NGO in Jos, where she said the education system should focus on producing critical thinkers, problem-solvers and job creators who can use local resources to develop solutions and boost the economy.
Mshelia, an architect, said reviewing the curriculum to reflect current realities would create employment opportunities for young people and increase government revenue.
She noted that developed countries rely on skills and technology to grow their economies, adding that Nigeria needed similar reforms to align its education system with current realities.
According to her, the education system at all levels should prioritise critical thinking, practical skills and the ability to solve problems using locally available resources.
“I think our educational curriculum at all levels should be reviewed to meet current realities.
“I am blessed because in school of architecture, we weren’t just taught how to construct buildings, but how to think. I have been able to apply that principle to many other things.
“And I think that’s the way our education system should go. The system should produce people that can critically think and solve problems using local solutions.
“The curriculum should focus on skill acquisition; let’s see young people doing things with their hands and using their talents to create jobs at all levels,” she said.
The executive director also urged parents to encourage their children to acquire practical skills alongside formal education, warning that a lack of support for traditional crafts was contributing to their decline in Nigeria.
“Parents need to seriously support their children to acquire other skills.
“Gone are the days when we think that our children are too weak to go and learn carpentry. This is why we are practically losing our local crafts in Nigeria.
“These same crafts are what other countries are exporting and boosting their economy through foreign exchange,” she said.
At the exhibition, Mshelia said the organisation had trained and supported 10 young people under its “School to Stuff” project to turn waste materials into sources of income.
She said 20 applicants had initially been selected for the project, but only 10 eventually turned up to participate.
Mshelia explained that the initiative was designed to address waste management challenges while helping young people create wealth from waste in their environment.
“Waste management in Nigeria is a huge problem, and that’s why we trained these 10 young people and supported them to create wealth from the waste in their environment.
“We simply supported them to use their creativity to turn waste into wealth; that way, we are also solving the problem of unemployment and underemployment in Nigeria,” she said.
She urged Nigerians to put their creativity and skills to productive use, while advising young people to shun social vices and serve as good ambassadors of the country.
Mshelia also called on the government to introduce policies and programmes that would enable young people to put their skills to proper use.
