The Federal Government has pledged to collaborate with the Erasmus+ programme to produce globally competitive graduates with the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies needed to drive the country’s quest for sustainable development.
The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, made the pledge at the maiden edition of Erasmus+ National Information Day in Abuja on Thursday.
Erasmus+ programme is an European Union (EU) programme to support education training, youth and sports as well as to fund programmes, projects and scholarships.
The programme which span from 2021-2027 is aimed at sensitising the students and scholars in the Nigerian tertiary institutions and the general public on the importance of the Erasmus+ programmes to the African countries.
Sununu explained that the Erasmus scholarship scheme was one of the most popular European Scholarship programmes anyone could hope to be part of.
According to him, it is a multinational exchange programme aimed at promoting international collaboration, harnessing international talent and facilitating mobility among borders for exchange of knowledge and research.
“I wish to inform you that the “Renewed Hope Agenda” of President Bola Tinubu Administration recognises that Nigeria’s education system must prepare and equip the citizenry to effectively contribute their quota to national development.
“Be able to produce globally competitive graduates with the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies needed to drive the country’s quest for sustainable development and increased national prosperity.
“Prepare and arm Nigeria’s youths to take competitive advantage of the 21st century knowledge-driven economy within and outside the country,” he said.
The minister noted that the ministry recently launched an education Roadmap for Nigerian Education Sector aimed at repositioning Nigeria’s education system to effectively play its central role in the national reform.
He explained that the successful implementation of the Roadmap required effective collaboration with the international development partners and other relevant stakeholders.
He said the collaboration was essential to improve the cross fertilisation of knowledge of ideas to build their immediate country as well as open gate to embrace courses not taught in one’s country.
“There are some specific courses that are not available within the country by virtue of our level of development or economical access.
“This scholarship will enable us to get students that will go there and specialise and also we can accept that and may now use them later in future to develop our own local and indigenous faculties.
“The development of roadmap agenda and the eight point agenda of Mr President is providing an avenue for us to key into the Erasmus+ programme.
“And also see how we can partner and the global educational sector is mostly a framework to ensure employability opportunity for these students to be able to contribute for national development,” he added.
Also, the Deputy Head of Delegation, Erasmus+, Zissimos Vergos, said that Nigeria was among the top countries with a larger demographic footprint and hence would like to see Nigeria rise in the area of academic excellence.
Vergos added that the Nigeria must educate her citizenry to make meaningful impact as well as a life changing educational experience.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme fosters EU-EU and EU-International cooperations with 27 EU member state and associated third countries as well as non-associated third countries. (NAN)