The UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC) is providing support for Yemi Osinbajo’s newly formed organisation, Future Perspectives, partnering to launch the “Innovation to Transform Education Training” (ITET) in Nigeria.
Future Perspectives, a non-profit co-founded by the
immediate past Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, will work with the
UNESCO agency with the aim to equip young educational stakeholders with skills
of innovation, policy and project implementation to support their role as
changemakers, capable of developing and implementing their own initiatives, as
well as other collective efforts to transform education now and for future
generations.
With a keen focus on Africa, the Organisation is convinced
that in shaping the Future of the World, the voices of Africa’s youth must be
prominently woven into global conversations, their participation and activism
will not only create a profound impact within the region but also bring forth
the invaluable perspectives of Africa to the global stage.
This collaboration with UNESCO serves as the springboard of
personal initiatives Mr Osinbajo would be working on since leaving office in
May 2023 and as he stated in the past, “education must respond to the dynamism,
speed of development and massive changes in society, and educators must be
trained to understand the skills required to take full advantage of a world
dependent on technology.”
This project is part of the capacity-building component of
the United Nations Global Youth Initiative, a ground-breaking multi-stakeholder
global initiative for “Youth to be equipped with policy and project
implementation skills to transform education.”
The project would also include the UNESCO Better Innovation
Better Outcome (BIBO) Academy which focuses on “Youth Empowerment and Leadership”,
led by IESALC.
UNESCO is launching the ITET, a first of its kind, as a
pilot in Nigeria through Future Perspectives because of Mr Osinbajo’s continued
commitment to ensuring that Nigerian youths have access to quality education,
using technology and innovation to be competitive locally and globally.
While the consultation process began in July 2023, the
upskilling training provided to ITET’s first cohort will take place in November
2023, gathering 50 young people from diverse sociocultural backgrounds and
different connections to education in Nigeria. They include pre-service and
in-service education stakeholders who are currently in higher education
institutions with education-focused programs, interdisciplinary university
students or practitioners who have a crossover interest or projects on
education, education practitioners at national, provincial, and local levels,
and youth leaders from major youth organizations based at higher education.
Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa and it is on its
way to becoming the third most populous country in the world by 2050 and
education would have to reinforce youth possibilities to join a labour market
undergoing rapid transformation.
This calls for initiatives such as ITET, with a focus on
bridging SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth),
SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and addressing young people as
both beneficiaries and drivers of sustainable development that leaves no one
behind. As an important regional hub, organizers hope the Nigerian pilot will
ignite collaborative efforts for the launching of Innovation to Transform
Education Trainings in other African countries affected by similar challenges
among their youth populations.
As an important regional hub, organizers hope the Nigerian
pilot will ignite collaborative efforts for the launching of Innovation to
Transform Education Trainings in other African countries affected by similar
challenges among their youth populations.
Future Perspectives and UNESCO IESALC are mutually confident
that by providing Africa’s young education stakeholders with a seat at the
table, ensuring their action space in the field, utilizing their collective
power and equipping them with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools,
Africans are poised to unleash the incredible change in education that the
continent desires.
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