The Executive Director of Public Education Works Initiative, Nimi Walson-Jack, has called for the establishment of Ministries of Primary Education in all states of the federation to address early childhood learning challenges.
He made the call while speaking with The PUNCH on the sidelines of the Academic Summit and Banquet 2025, held at the Leadership Conference Centre, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The summit was organised by the Men of Issachar Vision with the theme, “Building Extraordinary Legacy Towards Academic Feat.”
Walson-Jack lamented that Nigeria still operates the traditional model of one Ministry of Education overseeing primary, secondary, technical and tertiary education.
He, therefore, urged a restructuring of the education sector at both the federal and state levels.
He said, “One of the challenges of our education sector is the quality of teachers’ training.
A few of them are engaged, but there are still many teachers unemployed in society, yet we need teachers in schools. “They are engaged, but many never get any in-service training. A few are undergoing training in IT and modern technology, and that should be the norm, not the exception. So, we need to train our teachers better.”
Walson-Jack also stressed the need to make teaching attractive.
He said, “We have been with the traditional model of a Ministry of Education overseeing primary, secondary, technical and tertiary education.
A few states in Nigeria have started to restructure. We think that restructuring should be mandatory and should run from the state to the federal level.
“There should be a Ministry of Primary Education, Early Childhood Education and Adult Education together. And there should be a Ministry of Secondary Education, Vocational and Technical Education. The third Ministry should be Higher Education. This will allow for better focus.
“Most times, all those who become Minister of Education or Commissioners for Education in the states are Professors of something else, not primary education.
“We are told that primary education is for local governments and all sorts of arrangements, but educators will tell you that primary school is foundational. The English language you learnt to speak in primary school is the same that takes you to the universities. So, why don’t you just pay more attention to primary school?”
Also speaking, the President of Men of Issachar Vision, Samson Ajetomobi, called on the Federal Government and university authorities nationwide to deal decisively with cultism in campuses.
He said Nigerian institutions continued to train wild students, urging authorities to be courageous enough to confront cultism in their respective universities.
The Executive Director of Public Education Works Initiative, Nimi Walson-Jack, has called for the establishment of Ministries of Primary Education in all states of the federation to address early childhood learning challenges.
He made the call while speaking with The PUNCH on the sidelines of the Academic Summit and Banquet 2025, held at the Leadership Conference Centre, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The summit was organised by the Men of Issachar Vision with the theme, “Building Extraordinary Legacy Towards Academic Feat.”
Walson-Jack lamented that Nigeria still operates the traditional model of one Ministry of Education overseeing primary, secondary, technical and tertiary education.
Credit: THE PUNCH.
