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He said the 21st Century economy required that graduates
possess relevant digital skills to thrive and contribute significantly through
their respective disciplines be it industries, education, health, engineering,
infrastructure or any other sector.
He shared this thought and perspective as a convocation
lecturer at the 26th Convocation ceremonies of the Lagos State
University(LASU), OJO, speaking on Higher Education in the Digital Age.”
According to him, to survive and succeed in today’s
innovation-driven economy, and in a world where technology is increasingly
dominating all aspects of life and work, our graduates would need skills
required to navigate through and thrive.
Echono observed that even though the world is bedeviled by
massive unemployment, the fact remains that most companies globally are
complaining about their inability to fill open vacancies due to shortages of
people with relevant skills to man the openings.
He said Nigeria is not exempted from this challenge, hence
the need to produce graduates and other skilled workers who would be fit-
for-purpose.
According to him, at TETFund, “we are fully aware that the
future of education in Nigeria is inseparably hinged on the development of
capacity in digital literacy and skills to address the acute dearth of workers
with in-demand digital literacy and emerging skills as well as the mismatch
between the skills which graduates possess and employers need in this 21st
century.
“So, we have taken it upon ourselves as an agency to come to
the rescue so that our tertiary schools would operate in accordance with the
global best practices,” he added.
The TETFUND boss, while noting that the increase in digital
learning in Nigeria has led to a significant upsurge in access to tertiary
education and an improved quality, he said the development has also led to an
increase in productivity and decrease in the cost of operations.
Sharing some of the interventions of TETFUND on ICT in
public tertiary schools in the country, Echono mentioned that the interventions
are in various ways ranging from training, capital development, research to
infrastructural provisions.
According to him, TETFUND has spent up to N27.76 billion in
the last seven years as ICT intervention support to public tertiary schools in
the country and about N3.43 billion (representing 12.5 per cent) of the amount
was expended on training programmes alone.
He said the universities got the largest allocation of the
total amount each year while the polytechnics followed and then the colleges of
education given the least.
According to him, allocation to universities in the last
seven years for ICT development is N15.585 billion while that of polytechnics
and colleges of education stands at N6.37 billion and 5.80 billion
respectively.
He said the efforts are yielding tremendous results.
In his remark earlier, the executive secretary of the
National Universities Commission(NUC), Prof Abubakar Rasheed, who chaired the
lecture, acknowledged LASU’s disposition to quality training and research
works.
He said the university is not only one of the best and most
reputable universities in the country, it is actually doing well in its
tripartite mandate of teaching, research and community engagements.
According to him, out of 71 undergraduate programmes being run by the university, 69 of them have full NUC accreditation and the university also operates an ICT friendly environment.
He commended the leadership of the university for their
efforts and congratulated the new graduates, charging both sides not to relent
on their oars.
On her part, the Vice-Chancellor of LASU and Professor of
Physiology, Mrs. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, also acknowledged the significant
revolution that digitalisation has brought into teaching and learning in
tertiary schools in Nigeria.
She said the outbreak of Covid-19 and resultant global
lockdown exposed all countries and institutions to a reality that activities on
digital space are indispensable if they remain relevant in the post Covid-19
era.
According to her, LASU now carries out most of its
activities both on site and virtual, promising that the university would
continue to invest in digital learning
and teaching, research and other activities.
She thanked both the convocation lecturer and the chairman
of the event for honouring the school invitation to perform their respective
roles in the ongoing convocation ceremonies, saying their thoughts and
perspectives shared with the audience would remain useful for them.