EDUCATIONAL POLICY REFORMS FOR VALUE DRIVEN EDUCATION IN NIGERIA SECONDARY SCHOOLS: A PATHWAY TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 4 (SDG)

Abstract

Education is not just the transferring of knowledge, it is meant to fundamentally shape characters, instill values and prepare individuals to be responsible members of the society as well enable them to make meaningful living. Therefore, educational policy reforms should be aimed at providing value based education through nurturing ethical, moral and social values in learners thereby contributing to the holistic development of students but today we hear students saying ‘school na scam’ and ‘who school epp’. This paper took a cursory look at the possibility of educational policy reforms for value-driven education in the Nigerian secondary schools as a path to Sustainable Development Goal 4, conceptual clarifications, challenges and solutions. The study adopted the qualitative research method because it is non-empirical in nature, hence library based.  It has been observed that the educational curricula of Nigeria could not produce expected results for value based education for the actualization of SDG 4. Teachers need to be ICT compliant in order to be able to flow along with their counterparts across the world. Finally, it was recommended that Government should employ holistic approach in designing any educational policy reform so as to ensure that such policies will be able to achieve value driven education and not mere written policies. They should encourage discussions and wide consultations with all stakeholders and desist from enacting one policy on top of the other as well as focus on allowing much time for the implementation of existing policies.