UBEC trains Smart School personnel ahead commencement of academic activities

Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), through its Digital Resource Centre (DRC), has trained some teachers and other personnel for take-off of the Federal Government’s model Smart Schools in two pilot states of Kwara and Kano.

A statement by UBEC Public Relations Officer, David Apeh, in Abuja, yesterday, said DRC National Coordinator, Prof. Bashir Galadanci, led a monitoring team to the Smart School in Tarda, Kano, where he disclosed that 19 personnel were trained in Kwara and 20 in Kano.

Apeh also noted that Dr. Hafsat Lawal Kontagora, the Head of Capacity Development, led a team to Ilorin, Kwara, where training was held from May 2 to May 6, 2023.

According to the statement, the training was designed to equip the personnel with requisite skills for commencement of operations during the third term 2022/2023 academic session in the two states.

Apeh further noted that the commission had earlier proposed a pilot third term in selected Smart Schools in Kano and Kwara.

He said the purpose of the third term was to avail UBEC opportunity to test-run, on a small scale, some of the schools and identify challenges that might be encountered in the course of their operations and address them before the 2023/2024 academic session, when other Smart Schools are expected to begin activities on a large scale.

He added that the training focused on blended learning techniques and information and communication technology (ICT) skill sets, with resource persons from universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education serving as trainers.

Recall that UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, had insisted that all teachers deployed to the 37 schools being constructed by the Federal Government would receive rigorous and intensive training, similar to that offered to their counterparts in Korea.

According to a memorandum of understanding, signed between UBEC and Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA), Korean experts are expected to train the teachers for deployment, in line with established standards set for the schools, which are expected to serve as models in the country.

He stated this while receiving a six-member team of Korean experts, led by Prof. Youngwoo Park, when they paid him a courtesy visit at the end of their two-week visit to Nigeria at UBEC headquarters.