Nigeria not prepared for robotics education, stakeholders warn

Stakeholders in the nation’s education sector have kicked against the incorporation of robotics in the education system.
They argued that Nigeria was not yet ripe for such a development, especially given the deplorable state of education sector.
The stakeholders’ opposition to the development is against the backdrop of the recent training and competition on robotics, organised by the United States Embassy in Abeokuta, Ogun State, in collaboration with RoboRave International, a US-based robotics academy.
According to the consulate, the programme was the first training to be conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, as 60 robots will be donated free of charge to the participating schools.
Robotics education is a broad term that refers to a collection of activities, instructional programmes, physical platforms, educational resources and pedagogical philosophies using robots. The primary objective of educational robotics is to provide a set of experience to facilitate the student’s development of knowledge, skills and attitudes for the design, analysis, application and operation of robots.
According to the US Consul General, Mr. John Bray, robotics training seeks to boost technology education in Nigeria by engaging the participating students in hands-on robotics activities to stimulate their interest in academic disciplines in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, popularly called
STEM.
But a university don, Dr. Kareem Adegoke of the Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, said, though the idea of technological development was very crucial for a country, adopting robotics education in Nigeria should not be the nation’s educational priority as the problems bedeviling the education sector were enormous.
Adegoke said, “I don’t think adopting robotics education will be productive, because we don’t have materials. There must be materials for education to facilitate robotics. Even computer science is still trying to find its footing in the country’s education system. We are not yet vibrant. Take for example, the computer-based test organised by JAMB. It’s not something we have perfected, yet they want to bring another highly advanced method of education into
Nigeria.
“We must learn to put our priorities right, as we don’t have materials to support that kind of learning; even epileptic supply is an issue. What I’m trying to say is that even if we are to adopt it, necessary measures must first be put in place to enable it work and, unfortunately, we don’t have that. In Nigeria, we are still using chalk or marker board, whereas in other climes, electronic computer boards and projectors have taken over. So, we still have a very long way to go.”
An Associate Professor of Political Science, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Dr. Sheriff Folarin, noted that robotics education would remain a mirage in Nigeria as the country itself had yet to develop culturally, mentally and
technologically.
He added that the country lacked the expertise, orientation and energy to sustain robotics
literacy.
“The fact remains that, in Nigeria, I think we jump the gun above priorities for the fantastic, like a fairytale Cinderella epic. What we mainly do here is instructional technology and not practical science. The modern facilities for education are not there yet; we now want to jump to robotics. If you want to know how something works, are you not supposed to go and read it up first before using it practically? If you want to read on it, where are the scientific books that will give you information on it? All the school and community libraries have old books; so what are we talking about?”
He, however, advised government against channeling its resources to the implementation of the plan on robotic education, saying it should rather address the decay in the education sector.
”What the government should focus on is to get the curriculum right, provide necessary infrastructure, provide adequate funding and harness human capital, build schools with enduring standard and make education another tourist attraction that will bring Africa and the rest of the world to the country.