Dr. Peter Ogudoro, an award-winning educationalist and leader of the Nigerian Teachers Community, discussed various aspects of education and its impact on individuals and communities in an interview with Diplomatic Watch Magazine. Dr. Ogudoro is a strong advocate for education, particularly for disadvantaged individuals.
His experience working in both the public and private sectors stresses the importance of cross-sectoral partnerships and collaborations in education diplomacy. The need for governments, private organizations, and civil society groups to work together to achieve their shared goal of promoting education and development is also championed by Dr. Ogudoro.
The interview highlights the potential of education to serve as a tool of diplomacy, bridging cultural, economic, and political divides and promoting greater cooperation and understanding between individuals and nations. It is crucial to recognize this potential in advancing education diplomacy, particularly in promoting greater equity and access to education. Excerpts:
Please tell us about your background and how it led you to become an Educationist, Career Advisor, HR practitioner, and Public Relations expert.
I had parents who placed great value on education despite their limited means and who made enormous sacrifices to help me complete high school. They looked forward to my studying Law at the university. The death of my mum soon after I finished high school made minced meat of the family’s plan to fund my university education. I settled for a full time in the then-electricity corporation of Nigeria and studied Human Resources Management via a professional certification route on a part-time basis. I got particularly interested in the Training and Development module of the course and became a facilitator in it after I became a chartered Personnel practitioner. To enhance my skills in that field, I enrolled in the university via a sandwich arrangement to study Education, Guidance and Counselling and Political Science which I enjoyed thoroughly. While still undertaking the program, I quit my job in the public sector to set up a consultancy for training which provided the foundation for what I am doing today. I have along the way, earned two master’s degrees, one in HR, and another in Communication for Innovation and Development, and a PhD in Education with emphasis on Career Management, Attitude Change, and Product Diffusion which I studied for at the University of Reading in the UK. I also hold several professional credentials in diverse areas including Public Relations and Marketing. The challenges I encountered while funding my higher education exposed me to smart ways of getting good education which I am now using to help many people across the world.
What inspired you to focus on education advocacy, particularly for disadvantaged individuals?
As I have signposted, it was difficult to fund my higher education. With time I discovered that I was not alone. My graduate training has uplifted my family economically and socially. My success has come graciously. Now I know that most people suffer because of a lack of information. Given my counseling and communication background, I can point people in directions that enable them to gain skills quickly and at a cost their families can afford. Scholarships and good jobs are generally hidden which membership of the right networks can unlock. I am helping people to leverage the right information to find comfort in life. I am uncomfortable when people especially smart teenagers struggle because of lack of access to good quality education which is within reach but eluding them because of ignorance.
How do you think education can contribute to the building and development of communities around the world? Could you share with us some of the major projects you have worked on throughout your career, and how they have impacted communities and individuals?
Good quality education is the best gift you can give to any human being. Teaching people how to fish through education is always an efficient way to move society forward. Africa is struggling because the continent’s political leaders have not come to terms with the fact that the easiest way to accelerate development on the continent is to fix the broken education system on the continent. The West are flourishing because they are investing heavily in education. Asia has followed suit. Skilled people make communities thrive. That is why I am currently training over half a million teachers through free peer-generated resources so we can affect the lives of millions of children positively for a more prosperous and peaceful world. I also train Public Relations practitioners across all industries so they can acquire and utilize good communication skills to promote good governance, social cohesion, and economic prosperity. The community I run, Nigerian Teachers is collaborating with institutions across the world to promote learner-centered education for a better-thinking African Population and accelerated development of the continent. Our work is bringing me and the community international recognition and awards which add to the fulfillment I derive from seeing millions of people get better globally because of the work we do.
How do you prioritize and approach capacity-building and organizational development projects for your clients?
I help my clients do scientifically establish their human capacity needs by using the right data to compare where they are to where they should be. The result of the exercise gives us the basis for capacity development efforts that help them to become globally competitive usually through carving out their own niches and leveraging their strength rather than doing what everyone else is doing. There is beauty in uniqueness.
Can you tell us about your experience working in both public and private sectors, and how they differ in terms of management problems?
The public sector especially in the developing world resists change which creates huge problems for everyone. Given the huge influence of the sector on society, the private sector which is the engine room of enterprise gets held back. Governments should realize that meritocracy helps everyone ultimately including its short-term losers. I quit my public sector job because I could not cope with the corruption and ineptitude in the system. It is almost impossible for the private sector to maximize its potential without a progressive public sector.
How has your doctoral research in career management systems influenced your approach to career advising?
The doctoral program I did at the University of Reading in the UK remains one of the best gifts I have received in life. It threw up the fact that most of us are sitting on acres of diamonds while looking outside for liberation. Many parents are major obstacles to their children’s development and outstanding success. There is a tendency for them to use their worn-out lens to impose career decisions on their children which creates problems for everyone including themselves. Those who are humble and lucky to speak with me before taking career decisions generally find that they can secure excellent education at affordable cost and find good jobs at the time they want them. I enjoy the smiles I put on the faces of people who convert the information they get from me into career-enhancing actions. My doctoral research put me in an international network of professionals which helps the work I do through the provision of opportunities for continuous professional development both for me and the people I serve.
Please tell us about your involvement in the Nigerian Education Enhancement Project and how it aims to promote equity in education.
The Nigerian Education Enhancement Project recognizes the need to democratize access to functional education for a stronger and more cohesive society. African elites train their children in the West which makes them neglect good quality education for everyone on the continent. This neglect is at the root of most of the challenges confronting the continent. We are trying to address this with the help of our development partners but funding and access to free capacity-building opportunities for teachers and our staff remain matters we are struggling with.
Can you describe the Tech Teens Bootcamp and how it aims to enable bright teenagers to earn all the credentials they need for guaranteed and affordable high-quality university education?
We need to develop a critical mass of scientists and technologists for the African continent. This is an urgent need that governments on the continent do not seem to understand. We are providing leadership in this regard. We train young people and help them secure scholarships for high-quality engineering and science training in the USA and UK. This is proving a very liberating program for parents and their teenage children. We are following them up and working with them to ensure they look back to help build the continent.
How do you ensure that your management trainee program equips graduates with employability skills that are relevant to the current job market?
Graduates of tertiary institutions in Nigeria and other African countries are grossly knowledge and skill deficient. Our professors and the universities they serve lack the skills and resources to make their graduates employable. My organization, SmartCareers International is filling that gap via short courses that are tailored to meet the needs of employers and clients of our trainees. We get inputs from our global development partners which guarantees the global competitiveness of our alumni.
Can you tell us about your online communities on Facebook, and how they have helped individuals develop their careers and save money for their families?
The Nigerian Teachers Online Community is one of the best things that has happened to teachers and other education stakeholders in Nigeria and our wider world in recent years. They are picking up skills for learner-centred teaching from our platform which is home to over half a million teachers from around the world. Teachers build career-boosting social capital through the platform, secure jobs from employers who advertise them there, and address other personal and career need with the information they get from there. The platform is also helping them to relax and deal with mental health issues in addition to giving them access to information that helps them train their children efficiently.
In your opinion, what are some of the biggest challenges facing education globally and how can they be addressed?
The absence of equity in education is a global problem but more problematic in Africa where it is promoting insecurity, conflicts, and brain drain. Governments in the Scandinavian region are confronting this challenge and are minimizing it. Other regions are struggling with this. Funding gaps are major challenges in Africa’s education industry. The methods teachers on the continent have adopted in teaching the continent’s children are also anachronistic and geared towards only academic credential acquisition rather than the promotion of good quality thinking and skill acquisition. Governance within the education industry globally is also behind time in most countries and terrible in Africa. The world can do better.
How can governments and international organizations work together to improve access to education in developing countries?
Governments and development organizations, as well as philanthropists, can collaborate to democratize access to education which is indispensable for a more equitable world. Much of the aids that go into the global education industry are wasted because they pass through government agencies that are corruption infested. Donors should confront the problem and learn to deal with credible and agile organizations that will guarantee the realization of the outcomes that all of us desire.
What are some of the most effective strategies you have seen for improving educational outcomes in disadvantaged communities?
An education research trip I made to Finland recently revealed that the use of well-trained teachers at primary and secondary school levels can make a huge positive difference in the educational outcomes we get. Giving teachers the autonomy to do their jobs after you have trained them well is also critical for excellent results. Taking attention away from the acquisition of diplomas and getting children to find joy in learning is equally helpful. School should be promoted as a place that helps us improve our life chances through improved capacities and not a place that limits our freedom to be ourselves which seems to be the case in most places.
How important is collaboration between educational institutions and industry in preparing students for the workforce?
The gown must learn to interact with people in town for the best outcomes in education. Employers know what they want. Let educational institutions learn to ask them for their needs before they formulate curricula. Practitioners should also be given the opportunity to facilitate courses that are preparing people for work in the industry. They should truly be collaborators, not people who work independently of one another.
Can you share any examples of successful public-private partnerships that have had a positive impact on education?
Most of those examples can be found in the Western world where corporations fund university departments to do research that improves industry productivity with salutary effects on the knowledge and skills of the academia. The internships that organizations facilitate ensure that products of tertiary institutions marry theory with practice. This gives students the skills and confidence they need to be employable. Africa is struggling in those areas.
What role can educational diplomacy play in promoting cross-border collaborations and partnerships in the field of education?
Diplomats are strategically positioned to promote collaborations that can benefit institutions across borders. They can facilitate the sharing of relevant information for mutual benefits and ensure that education tourism is not hindered in any way. We all can do better working together.
What do you see as the future of education on a global scale and how can we work towards achieving this vision?
Education is an irreplaceable tool for progress and sustainability. Rapid global changes will make education even more critical for the prevention of poverty and conflicts. We must adopt ways that will help the laggards to rise to ensure that inequity in global education does not continue to waste the world’s resources through conflicts and avoidable destructions.
