The Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), have begun the development of Higher National Diploma (HND) curricula for environmental health specialties.
The health specialties are: Environmental Health (8 options), Public Health (3 options), Epidemiology and Disease Control (3 options) and Water Sanitation/Hygiene (WASH) (2 options).
Speaking at the National Curriculum Pre-critique and Critique Workshop for the development of the HND curricula options on Monday in Kaduna, the Registrar of EHCON, Dr Yakubu Baba, said environmental health was a multidisciplinary field.
According to him, it encompasses various specialties including water, sanitation, hygiene, air quality, occupational health, waste management and food safety, among others.
He said that each of the areas was crucial for the promotion of public health and the preservation of environment.
Baba said it was imperative that Nigeria’s educational programmes reflect the current challenges and advancements in the specialties in order to produce competent and well-prepared environmental health professionals.
He also said that the workshop was aimed at critically examining the existing curricula and addressing gaps or areas that required improvement.
“Our goal is to create curricula that are comprehensive, innovative, and responsive to the evolving needs of our society.
”It is essential that our programmes equip students with the theoretical knowledge, technical skills and practical experience necessary to tackle complex environmental health issues,”Baba said.
The registrar explained that the critique would consider the curricula to incorporate the most recent research findings, global best practices, and emerging trends in environmental health.
Doing so, he said, would foster a culture of continuous learning and ensure that Nigerian graduates were well-prepared to face the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
He urged that the critique must focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and integration, adding that environmental health issues do not exist in isolation.
Baba said, ”But they intersect with other fields such as engineering, public health, and policy.
“Our curricula should promote collaborative learning and problem-solving to ensure that our graduates are capable of working effectively in multidisciplinary teams.”
Baba also said that practical training and experiential learning were expected to be core components of the curricula.
He stated that environmental health is a hands-on profession which graduates need to be prepared for the realities of the field.
Baba said that partnerships must be fostered with industries, government agencies and NGOs to provide students with real-world experiences and internships.
He added that the curriculum was expected to incorporate the principles of sustainable development and environmental stewardship.
“Our graduates must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to promote ecological balance and mitigate the negative impacts of human activities on the environment.
”It is essential to pay attention to the ethical aspects of environmental health practice.
“Our curricula must also emphasise professional ethics, integrity, and social responsibility.
”We need to produce graduates who are not only knowledgeable and skilled but also conscious of the ethical considerations and committed to the well-being of the communities they serve,”Baba said.
He stressed that the development of curricula required collective inputs, expertise and dedication.
Baba urged the participants, resource persons and experts to engage in constructive discussions, share valuable insights and work together to shape the future of environmental health education in Nigeria.
“With our collective efforts, we can ensure the health and well-being of both current and future generations, while safeguarding our precious environment,”Baba said.
Declaring the workshop open, the Executive Secretary (ES) of the board, Prof Idris Bugaje, said it has been challenging to bring the health sector to the forefront of technical occupation education and development.
Bugaje, represented by Mr Abba Dawakin-Kudu, said NBTE has held several activities with the nursing council and other health related councils.
He said, ”We saw and believe that the health sector contributes to a greater part of the country’s GDP.
”The sector need to be standardised, regulated and ensure that it gives the expected value.”
Bugaje said that after food, which is also health, the nation needed to settle down and standardise the sector
“Apart from individual’s health, the health of the environment is also critical to ensure sustainability of the health of the country’s population which partly is a responsibility of the EHCON,” he said.
Bugaje said that the curriculum would enable lecturers to have directions on what to teach and what not to, as well as how to test the competence of who they have trained.
He thanked EHCON for collaborating with the board, stressing that the outcome of the curricula development would be beneficial specially to the third world nations and many parts of the world in general.
Also, the Director, Curriculum Development Department of NBTE, Dr Hatim Koko, commended the council for conceiving the idea.
”Curricula activities are normally expected to last for five years before further reviews are incorporated or conceived for any normal changed that could arise,”he said.(NAN)
By Sani Idris