The government and other stakeholders in the education sector in Nigeria have been urged to embrace a more inclusive learning approach in the implementation of education-technology-driven initiatives to achieve better learning outcomes and results.
This was the summation from the just-concluded February edition of EdTech Mondays; an initiative put together by Mastercard Foundation in partnership with CcHub Limited. This virtual roundtable featured panelists such as co-founder/strategy and Head, Maevis Computer Limited, Chizaram Ucheaga, a certified English teacher from Lagos State, Bisayo Adewole, and moderated by Joyce Daniel, the social engineering practitioner.
Speaking at the virtual roundtable titled ‘Education in the Pandemic Era, The Role of Technology,’ Ucheaga emphasized the need for governments and relevant stakeholders to embrace more inclusive learning to create a robust and well-rounded educational system. He reiterated that with the shift to infrastructure-based technology to drive learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, governments need to continue to leverage technology in reinventing the educational system in Nigeria.
According to him, the responsibility lies on all stakeholders, particularly the government, to design a curriculum that addresses every student’s needs irrespective of their challenge or status. “During the pandemic, education stakeholders launched online radio initiatives to ensure that students continued to learn. As a result, the government now appreciates how technology is being used in driving learning. They have then launched initiatives such as the EdoBest and Kwara-learn in partnership with international organizations to deliver learning to students.”, he said.
He further stated that stakeholders must come to terms with the reality that education or learning is fast moving away from the conventional approach of the physical classroom structure to the virtual classroom, clamoring for the need to build holistic education solutions that would serve students depending on their needs.
“A practical example is an export university where people are allowed to take advanced degrees purely online and largely targeted at African countries. What they do is link industry needs to what the students need to learn such that when they graduate, they can get ready jobs. Governments need to start planning right from basic, primary, secondary, and tertiary education to make sure that they are doing similar mapping so that when students graduate, they would be well qualified to take up the available jobs”, he added.
Also speaking, Bisayo Adewole, an EdTech teacher from Akoka Junior High School, Yaba, Lagos, noted that people’s minds were open to the benefits of technology in driving learning despite the pandemic. She, however, stated that more still needs to be done to ensure that both teachers and students have access to digital tools and training to achieve optimal learning outcomes.
“When using technology-driven platforms like Microsoft Teams, the students, particularly those from low-income homes, do not have access to these digital tools. This then means that the purpose of creating the class is defeated because the students cannot participate in the class due to a lack of access to digital tools”, Adewole said.
She further explained that with learning gravitating towards online in the future, funding might no longer be considered a serious challenge.
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