Edusko, a leading EdTech company, hosted hundreds of school leaders across Nigeria in its second edition of the Business of Education summit on Thursday, October 25, 2018.
The Business of Education, is an annual education event where school owners, administrators, directors, policy makers and education entrepreneurs converge to discuss and proffer solutions to issues and problems in Nigeria’s education system.
This year’s edition of the summit focused on the roles of policy makers, technology and school leaders in preparing our kids for the future.
In his opening address, the convener of the summit, Jide Ayegbusi reiterated the need for everyone to be concerned about the state of education in the country.
“We have all gathered here today because we have realised that if education standards hit an all-time low and our schools churn out quack graduates, our companies wouldn’t have quality staff to employ; our hospitals would be staffed by death-dealing doctors; our pharmacists would manufacture toxic drugs, our engineers would design dysfunctional models; crime rates would be all time high and our economy would be grounded. So, education is indeed everyone’s business,” said Ayegbusi.
The keynote speaker, who is the Provost and President, Academic City College, Ghana, Professor Fred McBalonguri, charged all stakeholders to reimagine what education is in Africa, refine our curriculum to fit our context while also embrace new ways of passing information to the students. He said, “Our major problems in African educational system is that our developmental imperatives are not aligned to our educational policies.
“There is a mismatch in the curriculum and what we really need to solve the problems in our society. We need to have strong policies and the onus is on government to define the policies and ensures implementation.”
Speaking on the policy makers’ plenary, the former Deputy Governor of Lagos state, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan; the former Executive Director, Junior Achievement Nigeria, Dr. Kunbi Wuraola; the Director, Schools Education and Society, British Council, Mr. Muhammed Ahmed, dissected the issue of policy formulation, curriculum overhauling and public private partnership at upholding great standards in our education system.
Other speakers and panelists at the event were: Dr. Modupe Adefeso, Managing Director, The Education Partnership Centre; Mr. James Agada, Group CEO, CWG Plc; Mr. Mark Brooks, founder Mark Brooks Education; Dr. Jennifer Smith, International Education Consultant; Ms. Onyeje Terae, CEO, WOWBII Interactive; Mr. Onuoah Ugonna, Technology Lead, Accenture and a few other education and technology leaders.
Edusko Africa, the organisation behind the summit is Africa’s largest online platform where families find suitable private schools in Nigeria, Ghana and beyond.
L – r Teach for Nigeria, Chioma Fakorede; former Deputy Governor, Lagos, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan; CEO Edusko Africa, Jide Ayegbusi; Education Consultant, Dr. Kunbi Wuraola; Director Schools Education and Society, British Council, Ahmed Muhammed and CEO, TEP Centre, Dr. Modupe Adefeso, at the Edusko Education Summit.
The startup’s ultimate goal is not just to be a search engine for good schools, but a company poised to taking the centre stage in championing discussions and taking actions that would change the narrative in our education system. Hence the birth of “The Business of Education” and many of their other initiatives and projects over the last 3 years.
This year’s edition of the summit was supported by University of Sussex, Pearson Education, WOWBII Interactive, AIICO Insurance, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, British Council, Sevenup and PZ Cussons.