Edtech fair brace Nigeria students for entrepreneurship in technology

The Lagos edition of Africa Education Technology fair with the theme, Application of Technology to enhance human capacity development and innovation in Africa, was held at the Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos State Nigeria on the 28th and 29th of June 2019.

It nurtured the next generation of technology entrepreneurs in Africa. It convened key players, policy makers, service providers in the area of education technology across to the globe to exchange ideas, showcase their solutions and collaborate towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal no. 4 towards quality and inclusive education in Nigeria.

Primary and secondary school students had the opportunity to provide design thinking solutions to underserved communities with the application of technology and informed decisions.

The winners of the primary school design thinking completion were Caleb International School in the first position, Standard Bearers School in Second place and Dodan Barracks in the third position.

The winners of the Design Thinking competition for secondary school category were Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls in first Position, Lekki British International School in the second position and Government Science Technical College Garki Abuja in the third position.

These schools got prices from the initiator and organizer of the Fair – Brainiacs STEM and Robotics and complimentary educational provisions from some her partners like Oracle Academy, Andela and Impact Hub Lagos and a host of others.

The fair featured keynote presentations and panel discussions on innovative topics, opportunities and challenges affecting integration of technology to education in Africa from dignitaries in government and private sectors like Mr. Olaoluwa Oguntuyi – Director of the Lagos state vocational and technical services, Mrs. Grace Oyebola Adetula – Policy Expert on Drug Crime and prevention, Mrs. Adedoyin Adesina – CEO of Corona Trust School.

Others are Mrs. Bolanle Adewale- CEO Learning Place Center, Mr. Stephen Oluwatobi- Director of Entrepreneurship Covenant School, Mrs. Alaka in representation of Dr. Isah Alli Pantami from NITDA, Mrs. Aisha Amoka- STEM advocate Northern Nigeria, Zara Abba- Prism Edge UK, Faiz Bashir from Flexisaf, Sefunmi Fadahunsi from Oracle Academy, Oluwatobi Otokiti from Andela, Tola Salau from Carisma4U, Adelola Edema from Autism Gist, Innocent Oaikhena and a host of other personalities from other organizations.

While the fair was going on, educators from various parts of Nigeria and other African countries were convened at the other side of the centre to improve their learning creativity and critical thinking skills through the logic programming, robotics and other modern classroom technologies.

Not to forget, there was the immersive STEM village where children and educators got to experience virtual reality, robotics, lab science experiments, drones experiments, game and apps building and so much learning and fun.

The conference was fully supported by Brainiacs STEM and robotics, Oracle Academy, ARPG Tech, Andela, Film Anatomie, Design Spectrum, LetsLearn.ng, Impact Hub Lagos, EAE, Onesphere, Flexisaf and a host of private bodies.

Clifford Ajefo, Project Manager of the Edtech Fair stated that the main aim of this project was to produce creativity among African students and graduates by inculcating a sense of pride in their talents.

Racheal Inegbedion, founder of ARPG Tech, during the closing remark of the fair further buttressed that the fair developed the right skill set, methods and techniques relevant for African teenagers and youths to compete in or create a job market locally and globally.