Q: AS an ICT expert, how relevant is ICT to mainstream education in Nigeria?
This is really a pertinent question you often get from teaching professionals who worry that the provision of computers and other types of technology to schools is being confused with proper education. Basically, ICT is very relevant in that it supports and enhances, but does not replace traditional methods of teaching. E-learning, which is broadly speaking the delivery of education via IT systems, is becoming increasingly fundamental to the way educators interact with students all over the world. A good example is the Glow system in Scotland which links all the schools in the country over the intranet. During severe weather, a few years ago in the winter, when school closure lasted a week, teachers were still able to communicate with pupils via the intranet to keep school work going on.
Q: Don’t you think that the internet poses a distraction to students, especially in Nigeria?
No. I don’t share that view. In fact, recent research conducted by the e-Learning Foundation which is a UK-based charity, shows that kids with internet access at home achieve better scores on average than students who do not have. The reality is that the internet is a huge learning resource for kids; it helps them to research their homework and provides additional information to support school teaching. The past Labour government in the UK had a programme called the Home Access Scheme which provided children from low income homes with a laptop and 12 months internet subscription. We need to bridge the digital divide here in Nigeria between children from rich and poor homes. NetPoint and IES have collaborated to provide a networking solution to some of our clients who are private schools in Ibadan whereby we provide an ICT laboratory and e-learning content developed by IES which is stored on our intranet servers. We want to take that scheme forward as a social project so that every public school in the state is equipped with an ICT lab, internet access and customised e-learning content that covers the UTME and SSCE located on intranet servers.
Q: This sounds like a massive project, how would you tackle funding?
We are already halfway there, as we have e-learning content put together by top teachers in the country. This will be a multi-agency effort between teachers, software developers, leading publishing houses and governments; it may require a Public Private Partnership (PPP). We are currently speaking to some of the large corporate companies to get them to provide funding. I am also quite sure that there are some state governments in the country already working in the same direction.
We already provide free basic computer training to students enrolled on our WASCE-GCE classes in Ibadan During this long holiday period, we are also running a summer camp of computer training for a 2,500 naira fee for students progressing to SSS III. But beyond this, we run professional IT courses like the Oracle DBA , Microsoft certified courses and quite a few other courses. There’s a lot more information on our website.
Q: What does IES stand for?
IES runs a top quality remedial College with the goal of providing high standard of education in a friendly and supportive environment. We periodically run free or heavily discounted coaching camps like the one I mentioned earlier on. IES also offers free counselling and guidance to students applying to study in colleges and universities in the UK.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Kehinde Adio
Quelle/Source: Nigerian Tribune, 26.07.2013
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