After the successful Teesas Leader in Me (LIM) program organised by Teesas Education in Lagos last month, the EdTech company has taken its campaign to include leadership, social-emotional and digital skills education in Nigerian schools’ curriculum to Abuja.
The Teesas LIM program in Abuja brought together owners of leading schools, top school managers and stakeholders in the education sector in the north to discuss strategies to prepare children for work in the future.
The keynote speaker, Folashade Adefisayo, an academic and former Commissioner of Education, Lagos State, said that the Teesas LIM program includes topics like personal leadership which teaches children to take responsibility, leading to less disciplinary problems.
She also highlighted other topics covered by the program like “win-win solutions” and “sharpen the saw.”
“IQ gets you a job, but emotional intelligence helps you keep it. Emotional intelligence can be taught and mastered because habits are things we continually do,” she said.
Mr Osayi Izedonmwen, founder and chairman of Teesas Education, said the Teesas LIM is a whole-school transformation program delivered in partnership with FranklinCovey Education, primarily focused on developing leadership and social-emotional skills in learners to make them life-ready and prepare them for work in the future.
“AI and other tools are growing quickly, and you don’t want to build a workforce that is incapable of adding value to the economy. We believe very strongly that this is the right time to start sharpening the saw, by ensuring our learners are equipped with the right digital, leadership, social, and emotional skills that the future-of-work will require,” he said.
Justin Permenter, regional director of FranklinCovey Education said that research suggests that by the year 2050, nearly half of the world’s children under 18 will be on the African continent, so while it would be an exciting time for Africa, it is time for Africa to prepare for that future.
Permenter stated that the model of schools hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years although the 21st century challenges are different.
He added that there’s been a shift from the industrial age to the knowledge age while stating that analytical thinking, creative thinking, technological literacy, empathy and active listening, leadership and social influence are some of the top skills identified by the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs 2023 Report.
Similarly, McKinsey’s Future of Work Skills Report released in 2023 identified 56 foundational skills which can be grouped into four categories: cognitive, interpersonal, self-leadership and digital skills.
“Leader in Me addresses school development in three aspects: culture, leadership and academics. While the ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is a foundation for the program, it rests on five paradigms namely: leadership, potential, change, motivation and education,” he said.
Speaking during a panel session, Dr Abimbola Ogundere, a global leadership expert, coach and CEO, LAIT Africa emphasised the need to implement social-emotional learning in schools using the Teesas LIM because of the lack of empathy, disrespect, bullying and disregard for authority by some students.
“Children who are not brought up properly cannot be functional adults. Parents must celebrate their children for being empathetic as much as they celebrate them for scoring good grades,” she said.
Another speaker, Mrs Oluwatosin Oladipo, head of Schools at SafeHands Schools stressed the need to instil empathy in children and expressed delight that the Teesas LIM program provides a framework that enables schools to do so.
