NEEDCSI Holds National Summit on Education for Peace & Development

New Era Educational and Charitable Support Foundation, in partnership with the Universal Peace Federation (UPF-Nigeria), organized the National Summit on Education for Peace and Development, on Saturday, September 26, 2015, at the Banquet Hall of Hill Station Hotel, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. The Summit was sponsored by the...

International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON-Jos), United Religions Initiative -URI West Africa Regional Office, Creative Minds Development Foundation, Project Happiness, Mindfulness Without Borders and the Bege Foundation. The Theme of the Summit was: Rethinking Education as a Tool for Peace and Development. The Education Summit was attended by 98 Participants, which included Religious Leaders, Educators from Universities and Colleges of Education across towns and cities in Nigeria, CEOs of NGOs, FBOs, CSOs, Students, Women and Youth Groups, etc. Dignitaries at the Summit included His Grace Salika Dasa Adhikari, Temple President of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on the Plateau and Executive National Secretary of the Movement in Nigeria,  Mr. Gad Peter Shamaki, Regional Program Officer NSRP, Alh. Salis Abdulsalam, Founder/Executive Director, Face of Peace/Displaced Women and Children Foundation, Mr. Godwin Okoko, Chairman of the Plateau Peace Practitioners’ Network and Country Director, APURIMAC Onlus-Nigeria, Amb. Chris Matur Ngyang from the Accountant General’s Office, Jos, Principals of Schools and Colleges within Jos, among several others.

The Summit provided a platform for dialogue and recommendations on the integration of principles, values and practices of sustainable development into aspects of education and learning that will facilitate behaviour change and create a more peaceful and sustainable future, in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society for present and future generations. The National Summit also provided a platform for peer-to-peer conversations that address the social-emotional competencies and practices that are vital for coping with the challenges of an increasingly complex work. The National Summit was deeply grounded in the philosophy that:

• *‘Education of the heart’ will help foster caring, responsible and accountable global citizens.
• Cross-cultural conversations help people reach across the things that divide them — nationality, ethnicity, religious affiliation, wars and geography.

Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, or research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of others, but may also be autodidactic. Any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational. Education plays a key role in peacebuilding, the prevention and transformation of violent conflicts and in development. Utilizing education constructively for the prevention and transformation of violent conflicts is an important issue for development-oriented peace work.

Education is a fundamental right that should be maintained at all times, even in the most difficult circumstances. This is not simply an ideological statement. Education is an essential tool for human development and eradication of poverty. Where the opportunity of education has been lost due to conflict, it is not just a loss to the individual, but a loss of social capital and the capacity of a society to recover from the conflict. Education can be part of the problem as well as part of the solution. Policies and practice at all levels within the education system need to be analysed in terms of their potential to aggravate or ameliorate conflict- (Smith and Vaux, 2003).

As envisaged by the authors of the Tbilisi Declaration, education should have a far-reaching goal of a holistic learning for economic, social, cultural, and environmental aspects of development. However, at present, education often seems to contribute to unsustainable living. The educational system is designed for the economic circumstances of the Industrial Revolution, where learners are taught to reproduce and repeat, while being insufficiently stimulated to question their own lifestyles and the systems and structures that promote them. In terms of sustainability, this translates into young people copying the unsustainable models and practices they are seeing around them. Education and the educators must deliberately provide learners the opportunities self-development, capacity for critical reflection, creative thinking, cooperation, positive character, and the skills they need to make conscious choices and search for solutions, not in isolation, but in cooperation with others.

SUMMIT SPEAKERS/FACILITATORS

Papers were presented at the National Summit on Education for Peace and Development by distinguished Resource Persons and academicians. These included:

1. Raphael Ogar Oko, Secretary General of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF)-from Abuja, Nigeria, who delivered the Keynote Address.
2. Amefete Margaret Doe, Principal Lecturer/Head of Department, College of Education, Zing, Taraba State, Nigeria, whose Paper was titled: “Peace Education as Panacea for Development”

2. Adaka Terfa Ahon, M.Ed, Senior Lecturer, Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria, whose paper focused on “The Need for Inclusion of Peace Education in Schools in a Restive Society: Nigeria in Focus”
3. Ekpo Michael Ekerete, Assistant Director (Education), Ministry of Defence, Abuja and VP Academics, Airforce Girls Comprehensive School, Jos, whose paper was titled: “Educating the Girl-Child: Our Future at Stake”
4. Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba, PhD, URI West Africa Regional Coordinator and Executive Director, New Era Educational and Charitable Support Foundation, who gave the Welcome Address.

Good will messages were delivered on behalf of ISKCON by His Grace Salika Dasa, Mr. Gad Shamaki and Alh. Salis Abdulsalam.

CHAMPIONS OF EDUCATION AWARD
During the National Summit on Education for Peace and Development, one individual and one Organization were identified and honored with the Award of Champion of Education for Peace and Development. The Award, according to the Organizers, New Era Educational and Charitable Support Foundation, recognizes and celebrates the extraordinary work of organizations and individuals who are rolling up their sleeves and making outstanding contributions to the development of Education in Nigeria. These outstanding contributions include, but not limited to building of new schools/classrooms in different parts of the country, provision of modern educational tools, equipments and instructional materials that facilitate students learning in a conducive environment, scholarship programs that support academically gifted but economically disadvantaged students, training of teachers and educators, peace education, social justice, etc. Through these ways, these Organizations and Individuals have become Champions and Models for peace and development efforts across Nigeria. Through their work, they are sending an important positive message to the world about the importance of education for building peaceful and sustainable societies. The Award Recipients were:

1. Philip Obaji Jr.
2. Prime Foundation Academy, Jos

The Award of Ambassadors For Peace was also presented to individuals who have distinguished themselves in peacebuilding projects, beginning from the family, community and country, by our Partners, the Universal Peace Federation- (UPF-NIGERIA).

 

Prosper I. Egeonu (Swagg News Africa Boss) recieves Award of Ambassador For Peace and presented by Amb. Chris Matur Ngyang from the Accountant General’s Office Plateau State Government.

SUMMIT RECOMMENDATIONS

Participants at the National Summit on Education made the following recommendations:

1. There is the need for a new millennium national policy on education that should take into consideration the present era of global interdependence, which has come after the era of dependence and independence. We cannot bring about new results if we hold unto old ways, policies and programs. Our age calls on us to facilitate a new policy on education, which should help us achieve peace and development.

2. The new philosophy of education in our age that can bring about peace and development should be education for collective reliance and not the present education for self reliance. We need to grow beyond reliance on self to reliance on others. Peace and development requires us to live with others and for the sake of others. We therefore need a guiding philosophy that promotes collective reliance.

3. There is the need for a family centered education system that makes education beyond schooling and which makes provision for education before birth and education throughout life and even beyond death. Until this moment, education has been centered on schools but we do not have enough schools for all people to be educated in schools. We however have enough families for each person to be educated. If we therefore build a family centered education system, we will be able to facilitate education for peace and development, since the family is the school of peace and development.

4. Education needs to integrate self realization, ethical consciousness and creative ability inculcating character, citizenship and creativity and should lead to attitude, knowledge and skills through the heart, head and hand. In addition, education should harmonize religion and science and bring both into a common undertaking and with a focus on the utilization of technology for delivery of educational services to families, schools and community centers. The media needs to be formalized as an institution of education and a tool for delivery of education. In view of the fact that many young people are using social media, we need to consider the possibilities of delivering education through the social media. I am hopeful that the other presentations shall look into how to create classrooms on facebook, etc.

5. Educational policies should include the family, school and community as well as parents, teachers and leaders. Also, there is the need for the harmonization of educational practices in the formal, non formal and informal sectors. Educational programs should be offered in formal and non formal settings.

6. In view of the increasing cases of religiously motivated violence around the world, it is important that we begin discussions on the issues of introducing interreligious education in school curriculum as well as training of interreligious educators to work with integrated science educators for peace and development.     

Source:  New Era Educational and Charitable Support Foundation

Posted by "Prosper Ikechukwu Egeonu" a.k.a Pocar Lee (SwaggNews Africa Boss & YALI Network member)  

Peacemaker: https://youngafricanleaders.state.gov/nigerian-yali-member-stands-up-to-violence/

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