LRF Offers Recommendations to Enhance STEM Education in Nigeria

On Saturday, 6 June 2024, the Literary Renaissance Foundation (LRF) held its quarterly Book Reading Dialogue, bringing together an audience from all walks of life. The focal point of this edition was “STEM Education in Nigeria”, a topic of increasing importance as technology continues to assert its dominance in the modern world.

Babatunde Oladele, the coordinator of the programme, set the tone for the event by emphasising the need for an intellectual and depersonalised approach to the dialogue. He encouraged participants to engage in reading the issue guide and share their knowledge, experiences and insights regarding STEM education in Nigeria.

The issue guide, which participants took turns reading, highlighted three key areas for improvement regarding STEM education in Nigeria. First, the current curriculum needs to be revised to include contemporary STEM topics such as coding, robotics, AI, cybersecurity and data science. Second, existing infrastructure and instructional facilities need to be upgraded. This means better access to the Internet, electricity, laboratories and computers, all of which are essential for effective STEM learning.

Third, there should be initiatives to raise awareness about the importance of STEM careers and provide proper guidance to students. If the opportunities available in STEM fields are highlighted, more students can be encouraged to pursue those paths.

After reading the document, participants shared their insights – including personal and professional experiences – on the action points and their respective drawbacks.

Tayo Balogun felt that organising STEM competitions in Nigeria was a way forward to tackle these challenges. She suggested having a summit where stakeholders from both the public and private educational sectors can deliberate on the way forward for the sector. These stakeholders can then return to their respective schools and administrative regions and implement those strategies.

Modupe Erinoso said that translating STEM education into indigenous languages would be a tremendous help to students.

“I understand the barrier that language can cause,” she said. “Given that Nigeria is made up of many languages and dialects, it might be tough to implement this, but it’s a good idea to also engage the communities.”

On that note, Babatunde Oladele revealed that his company, TRW Consult, is collaborating with a coalition of Nigerians in the diaspora to tackle some of these current issues. The initiative is called Naijaspora.

“Americans believe that there is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America,” he said, “and that is a philosophy that we are bringing to Nigeria. There is nothing wrong with Nigeria that cannot be cured with what is right in Nigeria. We are willing to partner with whoever is willing to work with us to solve these problems in Nigeria.

“As Nigerians, we have people all over the universe that can help. By the time we start, we will reach out to as many people as we can to see what we can do together to improve life for our fellow citizens in our nation. Nigeria is where we’ve all come from, and no matter where we are in the world, it is still our country.”