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Edufirst, NBCC charge stakeholders on technology education

By Adelowo Adebumiti
31 December 2020   |   4:08 am
Education First Nigeria Limited (Edufirst) and the Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) have challenged stakeholders to adopt methods that will promote technology education.

Education First Nigeria Limited (Edufirst) and the Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) have challenged stakeholders to adopt methods that will promote technology education.

The duo made the call at the 2020 Edutech conference, which was held virtually.

Speaking at the event with the theme, ‘Jobs, education and technology: The new normal’, President and NBCC Council chairman, Mr. Kalowo Falowo, said COVID-19 pandemic had exposed the weakness of education system in Africa.

He urged education managers to ensure that they build existing advancement they made by sharing experiences on how to improve the sector through technology.

Falowo said as stakeholders gradually readjust to the new normal, the leadership and managers of higher education institutions must understand the imperative of embracing change to sustain the viability of their academic enterprise.

“We have seen educational institutions at all levels in Nigeria and across Africa adopt online learning platforms such as Google learning, Udemy, Microsoft, Zoom and so on. However, despite efforts to ensure a seamless migration to online platforms, students continue to experience challenges in the course of their academic pursuits. According to UNESCO, 89 per cent of students in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to household computers and 82 per cent lack Internet access. This means online classes do not provide the full-fledged solution as desired.”

He stated that several universities across Africa, including Egypt, Ghana, South Africa and Rwanda have moved some of their programmes to online platforms and partnered with telecom companies to zero-rate these platforms, adding that in some instances, these universities have made data packages and laptops available to students to improve access.

Managing Director, Edufirst, Mr. Moses Imayi, said the role of technology in the education sector could not be over emphasised, hence, there was the need to encourage future leaders to showcase innovation and creativity in their attempt to compete globally.

He noted that Edufirst decided to bring in some students from the Federal Unity Colleges (FUCs) to showcase their inventions during the COVID-19 lockdown to encourage their colleagues to brace up for technological innovations of the 21st century.

The conference paraded an array of educators in the private sector, students from over 70 technological experience centres in FUCs across the six geopolitical zones, students from tertiary institutions, and other stakeholders.

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