He said this on Thursday in his keynote address at the 60th National Council of Education meeting held at June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
Shekarau noted that the 2014 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations indicated that only 529,425 candidates out of the 1.7million candidates who sat for the examination obtained credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics.
He further explained that when this performance was compared with to the 2012 and 2013 May/June
WASSCE results, there was a marginal decline in the performance of the pupils.
He said, “There is no doubt that we have challenge in among others, the availability of teachers of Mathematics and English Language.
“As part of the efforts to support quality education outcome, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council has introduced e-curriculum, which I launched in September. It would ensure that teachers, learners and other relevant stakeholders have easy online access to the prescribed national curriculum in all subjects.”
Shekarau who said the Federal Ministry of Education has taken steps to ensure that the Unity Schools key into the effective use of the portal to enhance their studies, urged state governments to embrace the initiative in order to strengthen the quality of education delivery in the country for global competitiveness.
The minister further said in recognition of the importance of early childhood education to the total development of the child and the nation, the National Council on Education, at its 59th session, approved the incorporation of the one-year pre-primary education into the existing 6-3-3-4 to become 1-6-3-3-4.
Shekarau explained that despite government’s efforts to realise this, about 19million eligible Nigerian children were not enrolled in the early childhood care and development education scheme.
On the containment of Ebola, he commended the commissioners of education across the country for their collaborative effort in addressing the challenge.
The Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, said this was the second time the state was hosting the meeting and it was born out of the state’s desire to contribute to the development of a robust educational system that was comparable with what obtained in advanced democracies.
He said, “All over the world, education has been recognised as the most potent tool and catalyst for socio-economic, political, scientific and technological development.
“It is generally known that a nation that attaches the desired importance to its educational development achieves considerable socio-economic advancement to the benefit of its citizenry and contributes significantly to their wellbeing.”
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