Nigeria is committed to digital education – Permanent Secretary

Mr Sonny Echono, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, said the Federal Government was committed to the realisation of excellent Information Communication Technology (ICT) education in schools.

Echono said this on Thursday in Lagos during the Commissioning of Skool Media Technology Experience Centre.

The centre was built by Skool Media for Queens College, Yaba and Federal Science and Technical College (F.S.T.C) Yaba.

Skool Media is an education technology infrastructure company focused on revamping the educational sector by redefining the learning processes and experiences in schools and communities using technology.

Echono said ICT delivery in schools would redefine the teaching processes in order to give students the leverage to compete with their counterparts in other countries.

“Skool Media came in with the aim of extending the frontiers of not only ICT education delivery but also to use ICT skills in solving problems prevalent in our world today,” he said.

Echono represented by Mr Abubakar Isah, Director, ICT, Ministry of Education, said the centres would facilitate students’ technology experience, promote design thinking and enhance project based learning in schools.

He commended Skool Media, saying that government believes in such Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects to develop the country.

Mr Moses Imayi, Project Director, Skool Media, said the firm had invested about N500 million towards driving the growth of digital educational sector across the six geo-political zones.

“Our expectation is to invest in the future of the Nigerian child and equip them to be at par with students across the world.

“Quality education has been a major backbone of our strategic plan as we continue to be a role model for the adoption of technology in education in Africa and the opportunity of being a reference point for all ed-tech stakeholders in Nigeria,” he said.

He noted that the purpose of the centre was to make learning fun and seamless whilst engaging technology and innovation to drive productivity.

Imayi said skills to be acquired at the tech centres included: coding, Google digital skills, hackathons, information retrieval-information literacy using search engines, creative writing and public speaking workshops.

Mrs Yakubu Oyinloye, Principal, Queens College, said the tech centers would enhance the value and performance of students while equipping them with various skills to boost their competitiveness in a dynamic world.