By Dayo Adesulu
The Chief Executive Officer, Galaxy Backbone Plc, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe has stated that vision 20:2020 will be a mirage if we do not zero in on educating the over one hundred and fifty million Nigerians on the importance and usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

He made this assertion recently while delivering a speech titled: “Nigeria’s Educational System in the Internet Age” at the 65th anniversary of Government College Ughelli Old Boys’ Association (GCUOBA) held at the National Arts Theatre, Lagos.

Quoting John Chambers, he said “education and the internet are the two great equalizers in life through which the education sector can grow,” saying that if you have access to education and the internet you can achieve anything in life.

Ilukwe categorizes our educational system under the following, namely: primary school, junior secondary, nomadic and adult literacy. He said that the junior and secondary school has been merged recently for the purpose of efficiency. Besides, he noted that we have the post basic education which is referred to as the senior secondary school, technical colleges, the vocational and the open apprentice centre.

Illukwe lamented the attitude of parents on vocational studies, stressing that most parents love the aesthetics of furniture and joinery but will not encourage their children who have flair for it.

Explaining further, Ilukwe disclosed that, when Galaxy went to South Africa for a programme, he discovered that there was only one graduate amongst South African crew yet they are however sound in Information Technology. On the order hand, he said that all the crew members from Nigeria were Master Degree holders except one who has first degree.

India, according to him, has a complete different programme for technical and vocational studies. They realized that the society cannot develop without the technical and vocational study hence, what is emphasized there is not the classroom but the media by which you acquire knowledge.

“In technical and vocational studies, there is serious dearth for qualified teachers in our country. Everybody needs a good carpenter and joinery but nobody is willing to allow his child to learn,” he reiterated.

Said Ilukwe: “Our tertiary education- the monotechnic, polytechnic, college of education and the university should explore the knowledge of information communication technology made available in this twenty first, if the vision 20:2020 will be a reality,”

According to Ilukwe, lack of access to education is one of the issues militating against education in Nigeria, pointing out that, there are a lot of people out there who do not have access to education in Nigeria as a result of poverty, thereby bringing inequality into the sector.

Lack of essential infrastructure and facility, Ilukwe maintained, is another factor plaguing the sector, adding that the percentage of budget devoted to education sector every year is inadequate to get the facilities and infrastructure in place. Aside, he stated that gender disparity, especially in the north is a factor that must be looked into with keen interest to balance the equation.

On poverty, he noted that in most schools, teachers are waiting for when they will get a bank job and resign, indicating lack of interest in the teaching profession.

How relevant is the school curriculum we have today, he asked? Education is dynamic and knowledge is dynamic,