An ICT expert, Attahiru Dahiru, has advised the federal and states governments to focus more of their education funding on projects that concern `digital learning` in schools.
Dahiru, who is the founder of RevHub, an Abuja based Hub which is into computer modelling and training, stated this on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He noted that the federal and states governments’ school projects in the 21st century should be about the digital literacy programmes and provision of broadband to schools.
“ Projects about laying infrastructure such as fibre optic cables, building of ICT laboratories, connecting electricity, buying tablets for learners and training teachers are needed,” he said.
He added that Governments should invest in internet connectivity among students of government’s secondary and primary schools,
He said this was important in order to promote teaching of some subjects online as the world still battled the COVID-19 pandemic.
“ I think the Nigerian governments should invest in digital programmes that would aid) digital learning.
“ At this critical time in the world, I think students are not supposed to be in school daily if they are digitally literate and equipped.
“ By splitting the teaching of their subjects, such that some of their subjects should be taught online and some others physically, this would help the Governments to win the fight against the pandemic,’’ he said.
He said Governments should also plan to provide school children with customised devices to aid in their digital learning.
According to him, the governments can partner local innovators for the development of these devices.
He said that everybody had learnt a lot of lessons from the pandemic which suddenly came upon us and led to the six months lockdown.
“ The lockdown came with lessons that showed that life, especially work, must continue somehow and this can only be achieved digitally.
“ I do not expect governments to still be discussing only equipping or building computer labs in schools based on recent experiences.
“ They should instead be talking about providing one internet connected tablet per learner,” he said. (NAN)
