Experts in the education sector have emphasised the need for government to include leadership and skills development in the curriculum, especially at primary and secondary education levels.
Doing this, they noted, will enable schools produce fit-for-purpose and future-ready learners that would not only create wealth, but be solution providers, even while still in school rather than job seekers after graduation.
They made this known at a one-day workshop organised by a private learning education centre, Teesas Education, in Lagos.The hybrid event, which was organised in conjunction with FranklinCovey, a global education resource training centre, was attended by school owners and administrators, drawn from within and outside the state.
They discussed leadership development in children, with a focus on the transformative “leader in me” programme, which addresses school development in three core areas: culture, leadership, and academics, and enhances student development by coaching them to look towards becoming effective leaders now and in the future.
Chief Executive Officer of Teesas Education, Mr Osayi Izedonmwen, said the programme was designed as a paradigm shift from the old ways, where school activities are given new perspectives that will shape learners’ orientations, thinking, and focus to be life-ready leaders right from school.
He pointed out that the era where students are taught and prepared primarily to pass exams for the purpose of getting paid employment rather than becoming wealth creators and leaders in their chosen fields is no longer relevant in today’s world, where new knowledge of doing things is evolving daily.
“In today’s world, there is a huge transformation from the industrial age to the knowledge economy and to have our learners prepared for that knowledge economy we need to develop their social, emotional, and leadership skills.”
Izedonmwen noted that this identified gap is what the ‘leader in me programme’ aims to address by inculcating seven habits of highly effective people in children as they pursue their academic journey,
He said this was responsible for the difference between the technologically advanced countries and Africa, with the former leading the latter with a wide gap.
Giving insight into the programme, the Regional Director of partnering FranklinCovey Education, Mr Justin Permenter, noted that there is a shift from the industrial to the knowledge-age economy, and every country must move along so as not to be left behind.
Permenter, who spoke virtually at the event, shared insights from the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs 2023 Report that suggested that analytical and creative thinking, technological literacy, empathy and active listening, teamwork, leadership, and social influence are some of the skills needed for future workers.
He also made reference to McKinsey’s Future of work skills report, released last year, in which cognitive, interpersonal, self-leadership, and digital skills were identified as four categories of high-demand skills in the world of work across sectors of the economy.
He emphasised that it is important that children, especially in Africa, are also trained in those skills like their peers in developed countries to make them fit for the 21st century economy.
In their separate contributions to the sub-theme of the workshop, “Implementing socio-emotional leadership development in schools using leaders in me,” the discussants acknowledged that there is a need to re-evaluate Nigeria’s school curriculum to incorporate contents that will make learning more practical than theoretical.
The discussants, namely: Dr Femi Ogunsanya, who is the founder of Oxbridge Tutorial College; Mrs Modupe Adeyinka-Oni, the Executive Director of Standard Bearers School, as well as Mrs Monica Lewis, Head of Pegasus Schools, said incorporating the leader in me programme in the school curriculum would make a difference.
Specifically, Ogunsanya noted that the leader in me programme was about restoring lost values in youths.
