A case for outdoor education in Nigeria

A case for outdoor education in Nigeria

Pupils can also learn outside the classroom

By Sina Adelaja-Olowoake

“ There’s no substitute for experience, so children should be given the opportunity to visit new places – and have a few adventures along the way “ - Mike Abraham

I have been waiting for a long time to do this article but having just finished working through the summer with a number of youth organizations at various summer camps in the United Kingdom, I felt there was no better time than now as most of summer camps made fantastic use of the outdoors.

Despite the great benefits associated with outdoor education, I am still at a loss as to why it is not yet a popular part of our education curriculum in Nigeria.

Outdoor education includes things like engaging in physical activities, going on excursions, camping, adventure treks to drawing lessons out in the open and going to observe certain insects or animals in relation to the biology lessons.  Pupils learn many skills by taking full advantage of the great outdoors – working on their own initiative as well as working as part of a team.  The activities they engage in challenge them helping them to find solutions by thinking outside the box.

However only a few schools are doing this. Many still do not see it as something that should be provided by the school – saying parents can help out at home.  While others say students are more likely to get hurt while out and about.

No matter the arguments against it, I think outdoor education is something that should be embraced widely.