Blog 8 - "Nigeria's Oil-Producing Regions Work Together to Improve Ed" - Caitlin Gault

Lawrence, Julia. "Nigeria's Oil-Producing Regions Work Together to Improve Ed | Education News." Education News. N.p., 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. <http://www.educationnews.org/international-uk/nigerias-oil-producing-regions-work-together-to-improve-ed/>.

            My article this week focused on education reform in Nigeria. Six oil-producing states have united to form a partnership, The BRACED Commission (standing for those six states – Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, and Delta), which was created to bring to light the issues within Nigeria’s educational system. The Commission plans to have its first education summit in November, where they will analyze current performance levels in schools, and brainstorm ideas to take their educational system into the twenty-first century. Director-General Ambassador Joe Keshi stated that “the education improvement initiative wasn’t born with the commission…since Nigeria came under democratic rule, improving the quality of the schools in the country has been a priority, and major strides have been made in that direction already” (Lawrence, 2012). The standard of education has been falling for the past decade or so, and those attending the summit are determined to improve it. Those in attendance, including “the area’s foremost education advocates…top politicians including regional governors, education commissioners, and the heads of all major universities” plan to create new education standards to stop the decline (Lawrence, 2012). They are also interested in creating a science and technology policy, as well as improving vocational and technical education.

            This commission seems to be a good first step in dealing with the education declines in Nigeria. They seem to have good motives and are interested in bringing their education system into the twenty-first century, as evidenced by the interest in a science and technology policy. I am curious as to the reason why their educational standards have been falling – whether it is a matter of legislation, economy, etc. – and whether this summit will have any actual impact on education. Will there be enough people there who are actually concerned about education standards to make a difference? This summit-style of collaboration seems to be a good idea in theory, and has worked (at least as far as the production of ideas goes) in several other countries. I am interested to see if it works for Nigeria, and the potential impact that it could have on the surrounding African countries.