IMPROVING THE SYNERGY BETWEEN FORMAL AND INFORMAL EDUCATION: CHALLENGE TO ADMINISTRATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN 21ST CENTURY, NIGERIA

Abstract

Education is a veritable instrument for the reawaking of the consciousness of man towards a better society. Formal education consists of basic, post-basic and higher education. They involve the process of receiving and giving instruction within a confirmed environment for the attainment of learning outcomes. Informal education is the learning acquired outside the school environment like in religious houses, markets and banks among others. The study discusses improving the synergy between formal education and informal education, and the challenges of administration of higher education in the twenty-first century. The paper looks at the synergy between higher education and Public-Private Partnerships, Industrial Attachment and SIWES. Also, explained some of the challenges of collaborating with the private sector as the inability of the administration of higher education to have a firm control of the programmes and projects thus loss of accountability. The study opines that there is a need to improve the synergy between formal education and informal education for higher institutions to remain globally relevant in the world of work and competitive in the twenty-first century. The study suggests among others that the government should provide guidelines that will help the effective implementation of industrial attachment and SIWES.