Communique of the Maiden Edition of ACSPN Eminent Persons Strategy Series

The maiden edition of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) Eminent Persons Strategy Series took place on Tuesday February 6, 2018 at Caleb University, Imota, Lagos State.

It was chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, Caleb University, Prof Ayandiji Daniel Aina, and attended by a full-capacity audience of the principal officers, academic and non-academic staff and students of the university, as well as
members of ACSPN from Kwara, Ondo, Oyo and Lagos States.

The guest speaker, Mr Yao Ydo, the UNESCO Regional Director for West Africa, raised a number of issues in his presentation which were discussed at the interactive session which followed. Mr Yao Ydo discussed the importance of technology in driving the educational and skills acquisition process in the 21 st century and the importance it plays especially in driving the field of communication.

The key points from the presentation were:
 Technology is a major force of the 21 st century and it is here to stay. It is the major bedrock of all activities in today’s marketplace.

 [United Nations forecast African population to rise to 2.4 billion, a third of the world population by 2050, there is need to pay attention to the youth population as they are critical to the future and development of the continent.

 The present approaches to teaching and structuring learning environment are inadequate to address and support the twenty-first century learning needs, therefore, there is a need for institutions to manage the type of information and skills to tailor and mentor the growing youth.

 The current status quo of virtually non-existent values and poor technological skillset amongst a larger portion of todays’ youths, is the result of the failings of the older generations and the educational system.

 These poor values and skillset need to be addressed at a curriculum level at secondary and tertiary institutions, in order to place the skillset of youths at par with the global market place. The learning content should be reviewed and African youth should be equipped with adequate skills – entrepreneurial, communication skills, and other relevant competencies, to transit to adulthood and the workforce. The skillset of these digital natives need to be harnessed, driven by a robust technology-driven curriculum.

 The government needs to make this a priority for institutions at policy and implementation levels to safeguard the future. Organisations like UNESCO are already in partnership with some institutions to address these issues.
Participants/students noted the following on the usage of ICT for teaching and learning in African Universities:

 How to ensure that ICT tools are appropriately used to avoid the filtration of immoral contents on the new media

 New methods of teaching using new media – Websites, Blogs, Online communication, mobile applications, social media. should be explored by teachers

 Appropriate quality education should be provided in schools

 New media are being explored by students to study and do their assignments. Valuable websites are being accessed by students to support knowledge and learning and complement classroom experiences.

Recommendation and Conclusion
1. Government, non-governmental organisations, and civil society groups must continue to support policy makers with high quality data, to guide research and policy on African Youth
2. African youth should be integrated in all layers of decision making
3. Government, non-governmental organisations, and civil society groups must continue to monitor and support ICT needs in higher institutions and build capacity to meet those needs Mr Ydo restated the commitment of UNESCO to continue to support its Member States to reform education systems.

Prof. Nosa Owens-Ibie
General Secretary, ACSPN