Enriching Higher Education Curriculum to Meet the Challenges of 21st Century in Nigeria

Abstract

The right to education means educational opportunity must be both equal and universal. Throughout its existence, member state of UNESCO has sought to expand the reach of educational services and improve their quality. Its commitment to innovation, notably through the use of technology, is equally longstanding. Educational progress in many developing countries like Nigeria faces a severe double bind. This opposing trend puts intolerable pressures on Nigerian’s educational system. Traditional expansion on educational system will be impossible, so there is need for enriching the higher education curriculum to meet with the twenty-first century challenges through new resources such as skill acquisition, innovation, creativity and new methods. Impressive advance in technology over the past few years provide new hope that technological solutions, innovation and creativity intelligently applied, can allow greater access, higher quality and low cost per learner. This paper seeks to provide ways through which skill acquisition, innovation, creativity and technological tools can better contribute to educational goals. It looks at how technology can promote improvement in reach and delivery, content, learning outcomes, teaching and pertinence. It is a contribution to global reflection on how to make learning throughout life a reality through the enriching of higher education curriculum to meet these challenges.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n3p21