The United Nations Children’s Fund, Airtel Africa and the Federal Government have expanded access to free digital learning and skills development to nearly 2,000 schools across Nigeria, reaching about one million students and more than 20,000 teachers.
The initiative, implemented through a partnership between UNICEF, Airtel Africa and the Nigerian government, aims to improve access to digital education, strengthen teachers’ capacity and create opportunities for young people to acquire employability and entrepreneurship skills.
The partners disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday following visits by a joint Airtel Africa-UNICEF delegation to schools and youth programmes in Lagos and Abuja to assess the impact of the initiative.
The delegation, led by Garreth Spillane, Chief of Staff to the Chairman of Airtel Africa, visited Government Senior College, Agege, and St George’s U.N.A. Primary School, where students and teachers demonstrated the use of digital learning tools, including artificial intelligence, in the classroom.
At Yaba College of Technology, the delegation also observed how young people were using the Passport to Earning programme and the Youth Agency Marketplace, also known as YOMA, to develop digital, employability and entrepreneurship skills.
According to the statement, the platforms are helping young people access mentorship, internships and livelihood opportunities.
It added that more than 19,000 teachers had received digital literacy training under the partnership.
The initiative also seeks to remove financial barriers to digital education by providing free access to selected learning platforms through zero-rated data services.
The platforms include the Nigeria Learning Passport, the Federal Ministry of Education’s Inspire and Ignite platforms, the Digital National Education Management Information System and YOMA.
The statement said the Nigeria Learning Passport alone had attracted more than 2.5 million registered students and nearly 100,000 registered teachers.
Speaking on the initiative, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Nigeria, Rownak Khan, said free access to digital learning was helping bridge the digital divide and connect children and young people to educational and economic opportunities.
“Access to free digital learning not only bridges the digital divide but also brings children and young people closer to the knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to shape their and their country’s future,” Khan said.
She added that the partnership was supporting teachers and creating pathways from learning to earning.
Khan stressed the need to ensure that girls, children with disabilities and those living in underserved communities benefited from the initiative.
Source: https://punchng.com/unicef-airtel-fg-expand-digital-learning-to-2000-nigerian-schools/
