There is an increasing interest for the deployment of technology in the education sector globally. Digital learning presents an excellent opportunity to bridge the digital gender divide and bring quality education to every girl.

It was against this backdrop that stakeholders in the education-technology met in a roundtable conference to discuss the ways of enhancing girl-child education in digital age.

They urged education stakeholders to invest in digital resources to enhance education quality among girls. This topped the conversations during the October edition of EdTech Monday, an initiative of the Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Co-Creation Hub.

The virtual roundtable event, moderated by a Social Engineering Practitioner, Joyce Daniels, featured panelists such as National Programme Officer, United Nation Women Nigeria, Patience Ekeoba, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Google, Temilade Adelakun and former Commissioner for Women Afairs and Social Development, Akwa Ibom State, Eunice Thomas and a University of Benin undergraduate, Oseme Eigbodion.

Speaking on the theme: ‘Advancing Girls’ Education Through Digital Learning”, Thomas said there was the need to address unconscious biases against the girl-child to ensure that “digital learning is made possible and interesting.”

She said time had come for Nigerian girls to understand the significance of digital learning, adding that though there have been issues around policy implementation in the education sector, “the solution lies in stakeholders working together to monitor and evaluate its implementation.”

Also, Adelakun said the government and other stakeholders had major roles to play in eradicating gender bias and enable access to digital learning for the girl-child.

“We need to promote gender-responsive digital teaching and learning. We need to invest to be able to know about girls’ digital realities and ensure that learning solutions are custom-fit for their digital world. We must ensure that our curriculum have 21th Century skills,” she said.

Also speaking, Ekeoba identified high cost of digital education, online bullying, negatve cultural or social norms, and ignorance as some of the challenges confronting improvement of digital learning among girls.

She urged tech entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to introduce technology that is user-friendly as this would go a long way to supporting girls on digital learning.