Stakeholders have asked Nigerian teachers to embrace technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as tools to improve education and not as threats to their profession.
 
At the 59th (8th Quadrennial) National Conference of Delegates of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Enugu, which brought together teachers, education administrators, government officials and other stakeholders to examine the future of teaching in the era of rapid technological advancement, they said the future of education should not be framed as a contest between teachers and technology. They said the advancement should be seen as a partnership in which technology empowers teachers to deliver better learning outcomes.

Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, said AI could assist teachers in lesson preparation, personalise learning, identify learning gaps and expand access to knowledge, but could not replace the human qualities that define effective teaching.
 
“The future is therefore not teacher versus technology. The future is teacher with technology,” the governor declared.
 
He said AI should be regarded as a “handmaid of development” capable of making teachers more productive, innovative and effective, rather than an instrument designed to take away their jobs.
 
Mbah, who said his administration had invested heavily in education in the last 40 months, disclosed that more than 33 per cent of the state’s total budget across three budget cycles had been allocated to the sector.
 
He said the state had recruited 6,850 teachers and other education personnel to address manpower shortages and improve the student-teacher ratio, while Smart Green Schools were being developed across the state’s 260 wards.
 
The governor said the technology-driven schools were designed to prepare children for the future, stressing that the transformation of education must also include investment in the people responsible for delivering it—the teachers.