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Technology and its innovations have become a powerful catalyst for change in all sectors including education; and the Nigerian government is committed to leveraging ICT to bring benefits of education to all citizens, said the Director General of the National Information Technology Development (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, at a recent webinar.
“Innovations, imaginations and strong decision making skills are becoming increasingly important in meeting new challenges. We need to start implementing new teaching methodologies that can facilitate the development of skills required to participate in a highly globalised digital world,” he said.
He further noted how COVID-19 pandemic created “a global learning crisis, halting physical learning in schools,” and how the Nigerian government has initiated a continuous learning process to keep the transfer of knowledge ongoing despite the lockdown.
Abdullahi called for a multi-stakeholders solidarity involving ICT and education experts at the event organised by M-Solution International with the theme: Technology, Pedagogy and the Future of Basic and Post- Basic Education in Nigeria.
“There is no better time than now, for our nation to join the ranks of developed nations who have employed technology to shape the future of their educational system,” added Abdullah even as he stressed that the aim of every educational institution is to provide the students with a lifelong knowledge, secured with moral values, which will enable them to contribute effectively to global development.
According to him, the federal government, in its efforts to ensure continuous learning during the pandemic, created a task team championed by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with other stakeholders and development partners to provide new time guidance on learning resources and to monitor students at home during this period.
This effort has also drawn much support from state governments who have also keyed into the initiative by providing various teaching and learning programmes through the radio and television media.
“Technology has a great impact in enhancing and empowering pedagogy, which also enriches the lives of students through products, solutions, innovations and shared values,” said the NITDA’s boss who was represented at the webinar by the Director of IT Infrastructure Solutions, Dr. Usman Abdullahi Gambo.
Senior special assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Science and Technology, Saheed Olusola Balogun, said there was need for the educational sector to identify the importance of ICT and the need to start acquiring teaching knowledge via technology more so that ICT has become a standard digital resource for economic development.
CEO of Simple Tech Solutions, Reggie Rusan, argued for improved infrastructure to drive digital learning which he deemed to be the future of education for students.
