Rector of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Mas'ud Elelu, has called for adoption of cooperative education in the school curriculum to improve standard of education in the country.

Elelu, who made the appeal in Ilorin, explained that cooperative education ensures that all stakeholders are involved in developing and designing of academic curricula for students.

He advised all stakeholders to be interested in the system, which he said, is practiced in Canada and has been adopted in South Africa.

"Everybody must be involved. There must be cooperative synergy. Once there is synergy among all stakeholders, then we would come up with a plan which we follow for some years and it can be reviewed as we go along.

"So we need cooperative education where all stakeholders come together, develop curricula and the principles of what and what are we supposed to follow. That would bring us out. "And when we are talking of cooperative education, it is not only for students but staff also. What staff do we need? How do we train them? What kind of staff do we employ? What should polytechnic be for? Teachers' education should be part of the plan," he stated.

Meanwhile, the rector has been confered with 2014 WASU Leadership Award of Excellence by the West Africa Students Union (WASU).

During the conferment ceremony at the polytechnic campus in Ilorin, Assistant Secretary of the union, Kelvin Polinious, said the choice of Elelu for the award "Is a testimony of the dedication of a true West African son to the development of our continent."

He described the rector as "An administrator with an outstanding dedication to the promotion of democratic and educational development.