Curriculum
By Taiye Baiyerohi
Lagos, July 20, 2018 (NAN) A cross-section of graduates of Fine and Applied Arts from different Nigerian universities have urged the Federal Government to commence the immediate review of the arts courses curriculum.
The graduates made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of an art exhibition at the Omenka Art Gallary on Friday in Lagos.
They said the measure would help tertiary institutions offering art courses to catch up with the standard in developed countries of the world.
They expressed regret that tertiary institutions were still operating curricula developed in the 1960s, describing them as obsolete and lacking in arts innovations evident in other parts of the world.
Ifeanyi Ugwoke, a graduate of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, urged the Federal Government to support the art industry toward reviewing the curriculum in tertiary institutions.
Ugwoke, who graduated in 2014, noted that undergraduates were still being exposed to the same old pedagogy like wood etching and manual hand graphics, among others.
He said that innovations such as adobe illustrations, corel draw, photoshop, power point, 3D Max and use of video editing softwares should be included in the curriculum.
“Most of the modern outlines which are lacking in our curriculum will help to expose the students to better understand the course.
“This makes it easier for the student so that upon graduation, he or she will require little efforts to improve themselves.
Also commenting, Egwuh Ameh from Delta state University said that most of the courses were not comprehensively taught.
Ameh alleged that lecturers were too busy with their personal businesses and as such could not properly prepare students for the challenges ahead.
He charged the government to build modern art studios for tertary institutions, saying that the existing facilities lacked the necessary and functional equipment.
“Modern art studios are also needed because without a conducive learning environment, students will be distracted and discouraged.
“We do not have the necessary equipment in most of the existing art studio in the country to aid our studies and lecturers are not teaching enough,” Ameh said.
Similarly, Balogun Toheeb, a graduate of Yaba College of Education, said:”Aside reviewing the art curriculum, the Federal Government must also assist in providing materials for students to work with.”
Toheeb advocated the setting up of special government fund for the procurement of art materials for teaching and learning in tertiary institutions.
“Most of the materials we use are imported and very expensive and many students find it difficult to get them; so, government should intervene.
“When students lack materials for practicals, they become discouraged and frustrated.
“It becomes difficult for them to improve on their skill, hence they graduate without adequate knowledge in the field,” Toheeb said.
Emmanuel Eweje from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, charged governments at all levels to invest in art because of its great potential to transform the world.
In all, the respondents said that reviewing the art curriculum would help to produce artists who compete favourably with their counterparts in other parts of the world.(NAN)
PTB/USO/NKO
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Edited by Sam Oditah/Nkechi Okoronkwo