NAPE advocates inclusion of digitalisation in university curriculum

Lagos — The Nigerian Association of Petroleum Engineers, NAPE, has called on the Federal Government to include digitalisation in education curriculum of universities in the country where geo- sciences are being taught.

Dr. James Edet, President of the Association, made the call on Wednesday while briefing the media on the outcome of the association’s 2022 University Assistance Programme, UAP, held earlier in the month.

According to him, digitalisation is important as it allows the younger generation to be adequately equipped with technological innovations to drive the energy sector into the next level of development.

“There is a need to bridge the gap between the old and new work forces to stimulate energy growth, and this can be done by modifying syllabuses used by professors. We don’t need to change the curriculum because that is the job of the NUC. (National Universities Commission).

“The point is that digitalisation is very important to steer the industry towards growth and put the academia in the right part to meet the needs of the industry,” he said.

This year’s UAP workshop, tagged; ‘Bridging the Industry Academic Gap’, was hinged on actionable points that can be taken by the association instead of the usual talking points.

He said the lack of a high quality work force that will be required for Nigeria’s energy transition is a critical and urgent topic of discourse that must be addressed.

The NAPE President added that there should be a collaboration between universities and the industry to draft the course content for Nigeria’s Geo Science education to suite the industry needs, saying this would allow students graduate at the degree level industry-ready.

He also pushed for NAPE partnership with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, on researches and trainings.