In this piece, our Business Editor, Yemisi Izuora examines the role of education in building Nigeria’s future and support by Corporate entity like Shell in helping to galvanize the sector by providing adequate support programs
According to UNESCO (2000), “education refers to the total process of developing human ability and behaviours”. It is an organized and sustained instruction designed to communicate a combination of knowledge, skills and understanding value for all activities of life.
Education refers to what can be used by man to solve his problems to improve his life and make it comfortable and it is one of the several ways that man employs to bring change in to his all round development. Education demands efforts and discipline. It is also a formidable tool for man’s survival.
Notable scholars also conceived education as “what brings about the moral development and spiritual upliftment of the human personality and of the community as a whole which makes mankind more creative and enables him to live a more fulfilling life through interaction.
Others have also defined education as the aggregate of all the processes by which a child or young adult develops abilities, attitudes and other forms of behaviours which are of positive value to the society in which he lives and a process of transmitting culture in terms of continuity and growth and for disseminating knowledge to ensure social control or guarantee rational direction of society both.
This therefore explains why contemporary world attention has focused on education as an instrument of launching nations into the world of science and technology and with consequential hope of human advancement in terms of living conditions and development of the environment.
This is because, education, in the life of a nation, is the live wire of its industries and also the foundation of moral regeneration and revival of its people. It is also the force and bulwark of any nation’s defence and it has been observed that no nation rises above the level of its education.
Seeing education in this perspective calls for proper funding from federal, state and local governments to make the sector produce the desired results which will stimulate national development.
In Nigeria, much is not being derived from the sector due to neglect on the part of government, corruption, policy discontinuity, inter alia.
It is so unfortunate that several past administrations did not give priority attention to education in Nigeria, leaving the sector to rot.
Statistics from examination bodies such as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC); National Examination Council (NECO); and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exposes the level of decay in the sectors as it reveal a worrying disparity in the performance of pupils form private schools and those from public schools.
Those form public schools in rural areas fare even worse. In the West African Senior Certificate Examination (WASSCE) conducted by WAEC, for instance, candidates from private schools won the National Distinction and Merit Awards from 2005 to 2013, except in 2010.
Shells Education Intervention Initiative
In recognition of the urgent need to address this disparity, a sister company, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited(SPDC), operator of the SPDV joint Venture, in 2010 initiated the Cradle-to-Career (C2C) Secondary School Scholarship Scheme, an initiative that has helped to change the entire narrative in the sector.
The primary aim of this intervention Oriental News Nigeria gathered is to bridge the educational opportunity gap between urban and rural primary school’s populations in the Niger Delta where the company carries out it’s exploration and production operations.
The NNPC/SNEPCo edition of the scheme shares the same aim and objectives with the SPDC’S but is wider in coverage. It is a national scheme covering the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, hence it is described as a National Special C2C Scholarship Scheme.
The scholarship is aimed at developing selected primary six pupils into confident, functional citizens who can comfortably face new life, compete with their peers and become successful citizens in career and life. We work collaboratively with NECO and beneficiaries are selected through a highly competitive aptitude test conducted in the various implementing secondary schools.
Each selected beneficiary is awarded full secondary school scholarship to any of the seven highly rated C2C implementing private secondary schools in Nigeria- Premiere Academy, Abuja; Edgewood College, Lekki; Topfaith International Secondary School, Uyo, Akwa Ibom; Grundtvig International Secondary School, Oba, Anambra State; St. Francis Catholic Secondary School, Lagos; Nigerian Turkish International College, Kaduna; Lead Forte Gate College, Lekki, Lagos.
The NNPC/SNEPCo National C2C is now in its second year with a total of 170 awards covering tuition, books and full boarding and a good number of the C2C beneficiaries continue to maintain top level academic performance in their carious schools.
The scholarship is further intended to provide disadvantaged but bright students from across Nigeria access to six (6) years of quality secondary education and to help government achieve Goal 4 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which aims to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning and further helps to develop a solid foundation for the training of quality manpower in Nigeria.
The initiative as structured by the company has set out a number of benefits which include improved quality of education and learning environment for indigent students from emote communities, opportunity for networking with other students from other parts of Nigeria, development of a firm foundation for higher education in the country as well as development of sound human resource base for future employment.
Bridging ICT Gap In The Education Sector
Shell is known for providing adequate learning tools and capacity building of Nigerians at all levels.
To boost its engagement in this area, in 2007, NNPC/SNEPCo commenced development of an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Centres.
This ICT literacy campaign was in response to a study which indicated a dearth of ICT knowledge amongst students and teachers at secondary and tertiary school levels.
In its commitment to ensure success of this project, the company in 2008, commissioned 10 units of fully-furnished ICT buildings and donated to seven secondary schools in Nigeria and by 2009/2010.
The scope was further expanded to 21-seater ICT Centres and initial beneficiary secondary schools include Ikeja Grammar School, Lagos; Offa Grammar School, Offa, Kwara; Ebute-Elefun Secondary Schools, Lagos; Rumfa College, Kano; St Barnabos College, Kabba, Kogi State; Girls Secondary School, Imo; Uwheru, Delta State; Edo College, Benin etc.
A fully-furnished 51-seater ICT building was also donated to each of the following universities: Delta State University; University of Jos; Imo State University; and the University of Ado Ekiti. In 2014, the scope was further expanded from 51-seater centre to a 100-seater storey building ICT centre with one still under construction at the Enugu State University.
SNEPCo, with the support of the NNPC and its co-venture partners is committed to providing opportunities for Nigerian youths not just in education but also in entrepreneurial training and empowerment as demonstrated by our other social investment programmes across the country.
University Scholarship
In the area of University scholarship awards, the Joint Venture is leading other Corporate Organisations in providing scholarships which cuts across the nation.
It has offered three Scholarship awards in Geotechnical Engineering at University of Birmingham, the Newcastle University respectively, and, Hydrography at University of Plymouth all in the UK
Scholarship awards is part of SNEPCo’s compliance with the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) waiver requirements and it is projected that awards will enable SNEPCo to grow local capacity in Deep-water Sea-bed Survey.
The pioneer beneficiaries (2017/2018) are Miss Peace Feyiyemi Adepoju – MSC Geotechnical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Miss Iwinosa Osarugue Aghedo, MSc Geotechnical Engineering, Newcastle University and Miss Oluwapelumi Comfort Okewusi – MSc Hydrography, University of Plymouth,
1 Comment
Please clarify me on the c2c program. Is it the school that will admit names of pupils. Iis it coming up after they have written the Neck exams?my daughter is qualified to write it but I don’t know how to go about it.