Delta Youths Seek Curriculum Review, Lament Cost of Education

By Sunday Onye, Senior Correspondent

Delta Youths under the auspices of the Coalition of Delta Indigenous Youth Leaders Forum, Saturday called on the Federal Government to review the current Education curriculum in the country to address the current day’s challenges.

According to a statement signed by the Leader of the Organization, Comrade Gometi Crested, described the country’s curriculum as obsolete and insensitive to the current day challenges.

The statement reads, “Education remains one of the strongest weapons to positively transform a Nation. Also, a weak curriculum is more destructive than a failed Government.

“The impression of the younger generation who sees education as a scam shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s a red flag drawing our attention to the reality of how the current curriculum failed to address the current day’s challenges.

“We must consider the rapid changes in the global world as a Nation to avoid running an obsolete educational package.

“The current curriculum works in the days of our parents because it was designed to address the needs of the society in their days, hence over 80 per cent of them were engaged immediately after school programmes. Also, the economy/system was flexible and a good number of them enjoyed scholarships.

“However, society has changed over time only a few privileged ones now have access to scholarships in the current days, and the knowledge acquired in school currently has not been able to provide answers to the current day’s challenges amid unaffordable costs of education and harsh economic environment where parents are not certain of their daily food.

“This has exposed so many students to several illegal, unethical and immoral conducts just to survive in a school where the usefulness of the certificate is not guaranteed after school Programmes.

“The situation has degenerated to a point where so many youths who watched their elder brothers/sisters appearing almost useless to themselves and the general society due to the reality of the current society where education appears like a scam.

“The current curriculum required an urgent overhauling, education is not just about reading and writing; we are feeding our people with too much of theories that can’t provide answers to the current needs of the society, and we need to urgently address the situation to reduce the alarming rate of crime as a result of high level of employment among the youths.

“The current educational package encourages Nigerians to depend on certificates for survival, it was active in the past generation when the population was not as high as now, and the environment then encourages industries to strive smoothly.

“We therefore call on the Minister of Education to work with relevant stakeholders to overhaul the current curriculum to address the current day’s challenges.

“The curriculum should be localized to our needs, such that we can be useful to ourselves and well equipped to provide quality services to the world looking forward to Africa for survival.

“The curriculum has almost crippled Nigerians that we no longer think of survival without depending on foreign countries.

“We need an educational package that is rich and effective in terms of industrialization and commercialization. The current curriculum is not result-oriented and can’t produce the new Nigeria of our dream even if we have the best Government.

“The cost of education during our parents was flexible and the certificates were useful. But the current cost of education in Nigeria with a failed economy where certificates attract less value is a major source of worry.

“We, therefore use this opportunity to appeal to the Federal and State Schools to review the cost of education to enable our generation to access education easily even if they can’t give us access to the free education they enjoyed in their time.

“We do hope that our dear Country will be great again and we will not sit back to watch this country degenerating.

“We would not hesitate to give our total support to every stakeholder that is determined for positive change, we will equally not sing praises of those who sit comfortably to watch the system collapsing,” the statement reads.