The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has said Nigeria’s education system is not aligned with labour market demands, limiting young people’s transition into productive jobs.
The group said this in a statement on Wednesday after a pre summit dialogue themed “Future-proofing Nigerian Education,” held ahead of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit.
Lead, Human Capital Development Thematic Group of the NESG Community of Practice on Youth, Oluwatobi Oseni, said the effectiveness of the education system should not be measured only by the number of certificates issued, but by whether learners acquire capabilities to drive national productivity.
He described Nigeria’s human capital challenge as a “broken education pipeline” that needs interventions from foundational learning through tertiary education, skills development and employment.
According to him, weaknesses at different stages compound one another. The country is battling a large population of out of school children, poor foundational literacy and numeracy, declining examination outcomes and difficulty moving youth into productive employment.
The dialogue brought together stakeholders from government, educational institutions, private sector and development organisations to examine education quality, access, skills development and employability.
Oseni noted that graduates often enter the labour market with academic qualifications but lack technical, digital and soft skills required by modern employers, while businesses struggle to find practical competencies.
Under its Work Nigeria agenda, NESG said NES #32 will promote demand aligned skills, stronger partnerships between industries and schools, expansion of vocational and technical education and investment in digital literacy.
The summit will also focus on strengthening MSMEs which account for 96 per cent of businesses and 84 per cent of employment, as well as labour market information systems and formalisation of apprenticeship programmes.
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