REPOSITIONING EARLY CHILDHOOD AND PRIMARY EDUCATION: LESSONS FROM COVID 19 PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE
Loading...
Date
2024-04-17
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD AND PRIMARY EDUCATION, KWASU
Abstract
In the year 2020 the world woke up one day and the pandemic was on us, and before we could say anything the destruction was huge and spreading. You will agree with me that the education sector was among the worst hit with schools closing for months and years in some countries and more than 1 billion children were at risk of falling behind in their learning outcomes (UNICEF, 2020). Prior to the pandemic, the Nigerian government has been on a struggle to ensure young children stay in school and gain accessibility to proper education as statistics revealed that Nigeria contributed approximately 20% of the total global out-of-school population (Amorighoye, 2020). These numbers escalated during the pandemic which further deepened the crisis. As we all look for a lasting solution the place to begin is early childhood and primary education
levels as both form the foundation of all learning. We may not be able to completely replace the lost two years as it is on record that school children around the world lost an estimated 1.8 trillion hours – and counting – of in-person learning (UNICEF, 2020) we should be able to critically look at issues that arose at these levels of education and based on that plan and reposition not only for the next emergency but for the future of the children. Therefore, this conference with this theme ‘Repositioning Early childhood and primary Education cannot have come at a better time. Let me at this juncture congratulate the organizers and all participants that we all are opportune to be part of a solution at least at this crucial time. I am grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you and hopefully it will indeed be the beginning of the repositioning of our sector.