IHS partners TechQuest STEM Academy and LASG to empower 1000 Secondary School teachers with Digital skills

TechQuest STEM Academy, a nonprofit technology education provider, has partnered with IHS Nigeria Limited, one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure in the world to improve digital literacy and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in Nigeria by building digital capabilities of teachers to help arm young people with in-demand skill sets that today’s knowledge economy requires.

Speaking on why the programme was organised for the teachers, the Executive Director of TechQuest STEM Academy, Dr Itoro Emembolu, said it would provide the teachers with practical hands-on activities that they can engage with and ultimately impact their students with practical knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM).

“The reason we’re carrying out this training programme is to support teachers across Nigeria with the requisite knowledge and skill to build the capacity of their students in science and technology. We are starting with Lagos State and will extend to 10 states soon. We believe that the practical aspects of education would help to encourage young children and students to engage with the sciences, technology or STEM in general,” Dr Itoro told journalists.

She added that STEM is the foundation for modern-day economic growth. Equipping young people with the required skills will be critical if Nigeria wants to fully reap the benefits of a digital economy championed by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

The Mission-T app provides indigenous STEM and ICT content to make knowledge transfer more practical and interactive for the teachers. The app comes fully equipped with relevant resources that have directly impacted about 8,000 students and teachers in all federation states.

Apart from the fact that the app is downloadable with 22.35 megabytes of data and supports eLearning, several resource materials with text and video such as basic Digital Electronics, Computer Science for Primary School pupils, Robotics and App Inventor for intermediate, Advanced Web development and Advanced Digital Electronic are available for download.

With support from the Ministry of Education, The Mission-T is an initiative with several sub-set, including teachers training, classroom engagement, problem-solving skills, which were delivered during a Technovation challenge, Tech Entrepreneurship and Idea Incubation dedicated to improving the integration of the STEM app into Nigeria’s education system.

The in-person Teachers’ workshop was held between February 8 – 11, 2022, at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa-Ikeja, Lagos, and supported teachers in delivering Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics courses across public secondary schools in Lagos.