Education
By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Lagos, June 8, 2018 (NAN) The Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury, says education remains the only success factor that can turnaround the fortunes of any nation.
The ambassador made the assertion at the 10th anniversary of Total School Support Seminar/Exhibition (TOSSE) on Thursday in Lagos.
The event with the theme: “Celebrating 10 years of Driving Innovation in Nigeria’’, was organised by an NGO, EDUMARK, an education events company.
According to her, in all her four year-stay in Nigeria, education has been the only issue that she has most frequently referred to.
She noted that education had been the most important element in building her home country in the 100 years of its independence.
“Whenever discussing success factors of a society, certainly I would have said education, education, education.
“Therefore, in the spirit of this year’s event, we should stress the importance of coming together to build strategic partnerships.
“We should also be able to collaborate with all those who have something to contribute to building an education system that maximises each student’s potential,’’ Ambassador said.
“There are indeed many things to share as I look forward to increased collaboration between Finland and Nigeria in the area of education.
“For individuals, over many decades education has also been a powerful instrument of social mobility that has transformed lives.’’
She added that education was a central building block of gender-equality and otherwise.
According to her, it is believed that everyone deserves an equal start in life and that equality of opportunity is ultimately what brings the best out of people and what best serves any society.
She added that there was the need for teachers to be motivated in any school system.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of EDUMRK, Mrs Yinka Ogunde, said her passion for excellence was the catalyst behind the sustenance of the yearly event.
“It has not been easy all these years, indeed, it has been a journey and a learning experience.
“And with focus, we have been able to come this far.
“Having said this, we also need to spread our net wide to see how we can collaborate with more stakeholders, in turning around the education sector, as it remained the only weapon for poverty eradication and national transformation
“If we are going to truly reform education in Nigeria, the place of collaboration must strongly be recognised and shared,’’ she said.
The chairman of the occasion, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, said that for there to be any meaningful change in the country, there must be a change of perception of education.
“If we are sensitive to what is happening in the sector, we will discover that all we need is change,’’ the professor of Law said. (NAN)
CCN/UDO/PDE
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(Edited by Udochukwu Ifionu/Peter Ejiofor)