#OpenEd21

Note: The conference is aware that the closed captioning for this video does not meet the level of accuracy that we strive for. This will be addressed as soon as possible.

The essence of most Nigerian schools is to educate young minds and provide key skills required to positively impact the community. Meanwhile, the world is rapidly evolving and it is imperative to have a generation that is equipped mentally to adapt to it. Typically, colleges and universities make provision for access to training and learning in a conducive and friendly educational environment. However, considering the fourth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals, everybody should be able to have access to qualitative and equitable education and this cannot be achieved through the educational institutions only. Hence, the need to consider making education accessible through other means such as Open and Distance Learning and/or Massive Open Online Courses, among others. This seems to be the only way through which the Demand-Supply Gap in access to education can be bridged. Education is still beyond the reach of a significant amount of students with a thirst for knowledge in developing countries like as Nigeria, where education is of low significance as reflected by the national budget. UNESCO international benchmark for education funding is 15-20%, but in Nigeria it is 5.6% according to the 2021 budget which drastically reduced by 9.3% (Nigeria Premium Times 2021). Therefore, this research examines literatures on the culture of building a sustainable open education with specific focus on Nigeria. Findings showed that Open Education Resources (OER) offers the educational bridge to those students of low economic background and caters for different categories of students to foster a sustainable culture of open education. Conclusively OER which comprises of educational resources, teaching and learning materials in various electronic form should be made at a huge discount cost or free and accessible to all. OER should help bridge the knowledge gap for the underprivileged students and promotes lifelong learning. Despite this, OER suffers some setbacks that may hinder its effectiveness. The paper recommended that it is mandatory for stakeholders to be proactive towards the smooth running of OER initiatives. Stakeholders should make Open education accessible to all because it caters for different category of student, it ensures that knowledge accessibility is made possible even to those who are not financially buoyant and to those who cannot meet up with physical attendance in schools.

After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:

• Open education caters for a different category of student
• Open education ensures that knowledge is accessibility is made possible even to those who are not financially buoyant and to those whose lifestyles cannot meet up with physical attendance in schools
• Open education has come to stay in the 21st century, is not in competition with traditional higher education but it acts more as a supplementary avenue to extend the reach of education, Open education foster lifelong learning
• Open Education Resources (OER) can be structured for pure learning or for programs leading to certificate or degrees