Tejiri Ebikeme/Francis Sadhere
UNIVERSITY dons have harped on the importance of educational research in our institutions, appealing to government and private institutions in the country to make funds available and create policies that will encourage researchers.
At the 2014 Annual Conference/Workshop organized by the Institute of Education, Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka with the theme, “Educational Research for National Development,” the academicians stressed that there was need to invest on education research in order to move the nation forward.
Presenting the Lead Paper, Prof. (Mrs.) Eunice Oti Omoregie of Faculty of Education, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, appealed to the Federal and State governments to inject more funds into research.
The University don, described research as life, and life as research as both end up in acquiring one experience or the other.
According to her, it was in the realization of the importance of research to the development of a nation, that all over the world, nations established research councils, and some nations had several of such councils, including those for education.
Prof. Omoregie while saying that education was very important in national development, said that; “There is no nation that can thrive beyond the level of its education, because people’s ways of thinking and doing things are sharpened greatly by the level of education attained. It is on this basis that all persons and governments show concern to operations within the education system.”
She said “It is safe to conclude that education is the nation, the nation is education, education is research, research is education, and educational research is the nation. Therefore, educational research is the heart and beat of the nation.”
While presenting his paper, Prof. E.P. Oghuvbu, Director, Institute of Education, DELSU stated that, “We all know that no nation can rise above the level of education of her citizens. We can only promote education in Nigeria to an enviable standard through research in education.”
He added that “There is an urgent need for the total overhauling and improvement of the nation’s educational system – Teaching Methodology, the Curriculum, Information and Communication Technology, Science and Technology, Guidance and Counselling, Religion and Moral Instruction, Entrepreneurship Education, Vocational Education as well as the controversy over plagiarism among intellectuals.”
He urged participants at the conference to give their best so as to identify ways of improving and developing Nigeria with her people to a standard where she can compete favourably with the rest of the world.
On his part, Prof. Temi E. Ologunorisa, the Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Osun State University, posited that research is responsible for launching the advanced countries to the top of the world, by their control of the most advanced social and human capital formation, economic development and improved living conditions.
The University egghead said; “Research is the only source of generating and advancing the frontier of knowledge, skills training and expertise for manpower, and therefore, the most important factor which facilitates and accelerates economic development and improved living conditions in society. It should therefore be better funded by government and private sector driven.”
