The Federal Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation and UNESCO, has started digital literacy training for secondary school teachers at the FCT to increase their relevance in the technology-driven world of the 21st century.
The training called Reading Wikipedia in the classroom is expected to last two months, with the aim of equipping teachers with the right ICT tools for effective classroom teaching.
Declaring the training open in Abuja, Education Minister Mallam Adamu Adamu, represented by a Deputy Director at the Ministry, Mr. Afomowe Olugbolahan, said that digital literacy has become indispensable for all citizens to communicate, receive education or socialize
The Minister said “As you all know, digital literacy is critical to success in today’s technology-driven world. world, regardless of educational goals, career pursuits, or job functions.”
“As the world and indeed Nigeria continue to grapple with a growing jobs crisis, the majority of Nigerians in all categories of the workforce lack the basic technology skills necessary for real business application”.
“Therefore, digital literacy proficiency is no longer an option, it is the requirements and our institutions must play a crucial role in achieving these requirements.” He said.
The Wikimedia Foundation’s lead trainer, Ms. Obiangeli Ezeilo, explained that 70 FCT public high school teachers were selected for the pilot phase of the program, and stressed that primary school teachers will also be trained.
“ The two-month program is divided into two phases, the first four weeks of training will be online, while the second four weeks will be physical exercise. Today’s training is based on the use of Wikipedia, how to access information, edit content and do research work. “
“Wikipedia is an all-inclusive site, it helps check fake news, this is because every piece of information on the site has a credible source, so the idea is to train teachers on how to use the site effectively to carry out the class. Learning activities”
In their contributions, the former Secretary General of the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO, Ms. Florence Oguah, and the Head of Regulation, Accreditation and Compliance of the Nigerian Teachers Regulation Council, Mr. Okunola Abimbola, argued that the Training and retraining of teachers in digital literacy remains the sure way to meet the demands of the technology-driven world of the 21st century.
” As a professional teacher, you need to have all the information at your fingertipsthings are changing, and you have to be up to date with the information in others to solve the digital needs of the classroom, otherwise the students would be disappointed especially when their problems are not solved because they look to us as their encyclopedia”.
Representatives of the Non-Governmental Association for Literacy Support Services NOGALSS Ms. Cecilia Powa and the FCT Hajia Nasmat Abdullahi Educational Resource Center, affirmed that acquiring digital skills was vital for the economic development of the nation and vowed to continue supporting the efforts of the government to meet the 95% literacy level in the country by 2030.
Reporting by Julian Osamoto, Editing by Daniel Adejo
