NAN-H-52
Institution
By Kate Obande
Abuja, Jan. 25, 2017 (NAN) Dr Tunde Adekola, Senior Education Specialist with the World Bank, has called for the enrolment of talented young students into higher institutions in Nigeria to catch them young.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday that parents should not hinder their children from enrolling into the higher institutions at young age.
Adekola explained that children, who are up to 15 to 16 years of age, should be allowed to go to the university if they passed their examinations, describing such children as geniuses.
“In Nigeria, we do not have the ability to cope with people and their diverse abilities, so, everybody should be allowed to move at his or her pace.
“There are people, who are very sharp when they are young and become dull later in life, while there are those, who are dull as a child and when they grow, they pick up and become very sharp.
“Even some of all these geniuses, many of them couldn’t cope in schools, but later became extremely brilliant and came up with technological innovations.’’
He also cited an example of left handed children, who are designed by God to function that way, urging parents not to force their kids to change to the right hand.
Commenting on the issue of Nigerians emphasising and forcing their wards to get degree certificate instead of encouraging them to learn a skill, Adekola said Nigerians were not pragmatic enough.
He, however, advised that the education stakeholders should focus on how to formalise non-formal education to ensure development in the country.
“In reality, we do not ask a mechanic for his certificate when we take our cars to them or a plumber as well as a carpenter and all other craftsmen for their credentials.
“What we should be working on is how to formalise the non-formal education and benchmark the knowledge.
“For example, the best cook is the wife cooking for her husband without certificate.’’
Meanwhile, Mrs Cornelia Okwori, a teacher, in her opinion noted that enrolling underage children in higher institutions would have an adverse effect on the development of the country.
She explained that many students, who graduate at the age of 20 and 22 years, were too tender to cope in the society or shoulder responsibilities allotted them in their workplaces. (NAN)
KTE/KOLE/MO
===========Edited by Remi Koleoso/Morayo Omolade