By Enitan Adekoya
Skool Media, Nigeria’s based digital school promoter has given reasons why it is promoting the idea of making schools in Nigeria go digital, saying that will redefine the goals of education to transform how learning is practiced each day and make students and the teachers compete favourably among their peers across the world.
The easiest and surest way to get the desired quality education in Nigeria is to create an enabling environment for both the teachers and the students. This formed Skool Media’s strategic plan in their quest to get education work again
This is even as the ICT firm claimed to have invested over N500 million to deploy digital facilities in the country’s education sector in the last five years. This investment, according to Skool Media has had impacts on 23 project centers, located mostly in the Federal Government’s Unity Schools in the six geopolitical zones of the country
Speaking at the official opening of School Media Teachers and Students Experience Centers located in Federal Science and Technical College, Queen’s College and Federal Government College, Ijanikin in Lagos last week, the CEO/Project Director of Skool Media Nig Ltd., Mr. Moses Imayi noted that, the Teachers and Students Experience Centers that are being commissioned were as a result of Skool Media’s commitment to quality education.
According to Imayi, the easiest and surest way to get the desired quality education in Nigeria is to create an enabling environment for both the teachers and the students. This, he noted formed Skool Media’s strategic plan in their quest to get education work again.
“School Media will continue to be a role model for the adoption of technology in education in Africa and the opportunity for being a reference point for all education and technology stakeholders in Nigeria,” Imayi said.
The teachers and students experience centers are expected to be an inspirational, yet enriching environment that would support both teachers and students to be resourceful. The key aim is to make learning fun and seamless whilst engaging with technology and innovation and yet being highly productive
The Teachers and Students Experience Centers, launched last week are located at the Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba; Queen’s College, Yaba and the Federal Government College, Ijanikin-Lagos.
The centers are collaborative workspace for computer-based learning and indeed an opportunity for students to engage with technology and become globally competitive. They are expected to be an inspirational, yet enriching environment that would support both teachers and students to be resourceful. The key aim is to make learning fun and seamless whilst engaging with technology and innovation and yet being highly productive.
The core skills to be harnessed at the experience centers,according to Skool Media includes, but not limited to coding; Google Digital Skills; information retrieval—information literacy using key search engines; soft skills-EQ, team building, creative thinking and complex problem solving, personal branding; creative writing and public speaking workshops; Gamification, AR and VR mode or learning; hackathons, summer bootcamps, competitions amongst students; hub unique programmes: Ideation Day, Digital Innovation workshops, meetups, etc. and teachers capacity building: teach and techie day, teachathon, etc.
Responding to the gesture by Skool Media, Architect Sonny Echono, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, gives the assurance that equipping the schools with ICT will surely redefine teaching and learning processes and ultimately, give the students an edge to compete with their counterparts all over the world.
Equipping the schools with ICT will surely redefine teaching and learning processes and ultimately, give the students an edge to compete with their counterparts all over the world
Echono, who serves as the Special Guest at the occasion at the commissioning, added that the unveiling of the School Media Teachers and Students Experience Centers is a step in the right direction, urging other stakeholders to join in collaborating in the laudable venture.
“Skool Media as a pioneer of Nigeria’s objective of extending the frontier of not only ICT education delivery, but also to use the ICT skills in solving problems prevalent in our world today should be commended for these laudable projects. Skool Media has the support of the Honourable Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who is committed to the realisation of nothing short of excellent ICT Education in our Schools,” he added.
The Permanent Secretary, who was represented by the Director of ICT at the Ministry, Alhaji Abubakar Isah, also urged the college managements to explore the facilities so that societal challenges can be resolved via technology.
Meanwhile, the Director/Principal, Federal Science and Technology College, FSTC, Yaba, Lagos, Dr. (Mrs) Ogochukwu Ufoegbune, while speaking at the official commissioning of the Skool Media Teachers and Students Experience Centers located in the college, disclosed that collaborative effort among various stakeholders in the college led to the equipping of the school with ICT facilities.
Pledging that the school will make good use of the experience center, Ufoegbune asked for more. “Other needs are recruitment of more teachers, especially technical; hostel blocks, solar powered street lights, staff quarters”.
Also, the Director/Principal, Queen’s College, Yaba, Dr. Mrs.T.F.O. Yakubu-Oyinloye, who was full of thanksgiving to School Media, emphasized that access to quality ICT-enabled education is imperative for the future of the students.
She believes that projects such as equipping the school with ICT facilities will foster modern learning skills in the students, making them to be creative, intelligent and forward looking to assignments that will inspire them more.
“We are grateful for this support. We assure you that the school has put the necessary arrangements in place to ensure efficient use of the center located within the School library to boost teachers and students ICT experience,” she pledged.
The core skills to be harnessed at the experience centers,according to Skool Media includes, but not limited to coding; Google Digital Skills; information retrieval—information literacy using key search engines; soft skills-EQ, team building, creative thinking and complex problem solving, personal branding; creative writing and public speaking workshops; Gamification, AR and VR mode or learning; hackathons, summer bootcamps, competitions amongst students; hub unique programmes: Ideation Day, Digital Innovation workshops, meetups, etc. and teachers capacity building: teach and techie day, teachathon, etc.
On her part, the Principal of the Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Dr. (Mrs). OAU Essie, appreciated Skool Media team, urging them for continuous support for the advancement of education in Nigeria.
“We appreciate you today for the Teachers and Students Experience Centers. This is a job well done. We are particularly happy for the passion you have displayed in improving the standard of education in Nigeria. “As earlier noted, more needs to be done and the need for an improved collaborative effort to ensure sustainability of the on-going project,” she said.
The principal also used the opportunity to commission some ongoing projects within the school premises. The projects include the newly renovated physics laboratory and the guest lounge within the premises