As part of efforts to deepen digital skills and literacy among public school teachers across the country, IHS Nigeria Limited has launched a Digital Literacy programme along with UNICEF’s School Connectivity Support programme in Kwara State.
This initiative aims to train 100 public school teachers while also distributing internet routers to digitally connect 50 schools in the state.
Launched in partnership with UNICEF, IHS Nigeria Limited, under the IHS Nigeria/UNICEF School Connectivity Support programme to empower them with digital skills and connect their schools to the internet through the distribution and installation of routers.
Speaking with journalists during the training of the 100 teachers selected for the programme in Kwara State and the distribution of the first batch of internet routers to the selected schools in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Thursday, the Executive Director of Focus Teens Foundation, the project’s implementing partner, Kazeem Olaonipekun, said that the beneficiaries included one ICT teacher and the school principal of each school.
Olanipekun, who said that 50 schools in the state would benefit from the programme, added that the world is rapidly evolving and that education must evolve with it.
He highlighted the importance of digital literacy in education, saying it equips students and teachers for a technology-driven world, enhances classroom teaching and learning outcomes, empowers critical thinking and problem-solving, and supports responsible digital citizenship.
“For us at Focus Teens foundation, we are here as implementing partners to IHS Nigeria Limited in partnership with UNICEF, basically, to carry out the router distribution process to achieve the ultimate goal of ensuring that all schools are connected digitally before the end of the year 2030.
“Also, it is to ensure that all the schools present for this program go through digital literacy training to help them understand the importance of digital learning for themselves, for their schools, for the students of the state and for the country at large.
“This is important because we expect these people to step down this training to their respective schools as ambassadors and to let other teachers, who are teaching other subjects have access to digital engagement so that everybody can begin to use that platform to improve their respective learning which in turn improves the learning of our students at large,” he said.
Olaonipekun commended the Kwara State Government for embracing the initiative and readiness to collaborate with IHS Nigeria Limited, UNICEF, the implementing partner, Focus Teens Foundation to make it a reality.
“We planned to reach 300 schools across the five states and we will continue with it as we see improvement,” he added.
Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Lawal Olohungbebe, said, “For far too long, many of our rural and underserved schools have remained on the wrong side of the digital divide.”
The commissioner, who was represented by the Director of School Management, Victoria Adewuyi, noted that the programme would mark a turning point because “With these routers, we are lighting up classrooms, with these training sessions, we are building capacity, with this partnership, we are charting a new path.”
He encouraged the teachers to programme that they are the heart of the transformation, saying that technology alone is not the solution; “It is your leadership, your willingness to learn, and your commitment to our children that will determine the success of this initiative.”
Olohungbebe added, “As we equip you with the tools and knowledge today, we challenge you to become champions of digital learning in your schools.
“Also, our school principals and head teachers should prioritise and protect this infrastructure, ensure these routers are used purposefully, maintain them, and integrate them into the daily rhythm of teaching and learning.
“This is a great opportunity for our students as they now have access to tools their predecessors could only dream of.”
Meanwhile, some teachers who attended the programme commended the administration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and the development partners on their efforts aimed at improving teachers’ literacy training.
The Principal of St. Anthony Secondary School, Ilorin, Molu Dada, commended IHS Nigeria Limited and Kwara State Government for organising a digital literacy program for teachers in the state, adding that it would impact digital literacy on both the teachers and students in the public schools.
Dada, who said that participants had gained a lot from the one-day programme, stated that the Association of Principals of Secondary Schools in the state would transfer and implement the training on other school principals in the state so that it would go down to the students in schools across the state.
