Stakeholders Canvass Public-Private Partnership to Reduce Out-of-school Population
Oluchi Chibuzor
Stakeholders in the country’s education sector have called for public-private partnership to reduce the over 10 million out-of-school population.
They also sought an upgrade of existing education models to meet modern world demands, to close the gap between learning and workplace realities.
These were some of the recommendations made at the maiden edition of the Education that Works Summit, organised by Auctus Social Transformation Initiative, in collaboration with Khadijat Okonnu Leadership Foundation and One Million Teachers, which opened at the University of Lagos, recently.
Convener of the summit and founder, Auctus Social Transformation Initiative, Prof. Akin Akinpelu, explained that with education in Nigeria, practitioners often talk about the problem without proffering solutions to them.
Akinpelu, who was represented by the Programmes Manager, Dr. Omam Agboro, stated that the goal of the summit was to bring together stakeholders in the education space to proffer solutions towards strengthening education in Africa.
“We discovered that many education stakeholders have been working in silos. For this pilot project, we thought about letting the teachers share their own perspective on how things can work in the sector.
“That is why in the room we have students, teachers, policy makers, edtech founders and students to talk about education that works. The goal is to be able to change the trajectory of education in Nigeria and in Africa, so that education must really work,” she said.
Speaking during the panel session, Education Systems and Policy Leader, Olarenrewaju Oniyitan, said that public-private partnerships in education need to move beyond takeovers of public schools by private practitioners to addressing the problem of affordable and accessible basic education.
She noted that Nigeria’s education system cannot be understood simply as a choice between public and private schools.
She opined that “public-private partnerships in education should direct public funding and support to affordable non-state schools already serving low-income communities, rather than transfer public schools to private operators.
“In many communities, low-cost private, faith-based and community schools, as well as alternative learning centres, provide places for children who might otherwise be unable to attend school.”
Delivering his paper, Finnish Education Service Consultant and Chief Executive Officer, Polar Partners, Kimmo Kumpulainen, explained that the environment also plays a critical role in education outcomes.
According to him, “integrating digital tools which support learning diversity and encouraging digital learning and grading models can support students and teachers in delivering education that is inclusive for students and their teachers.”