Gabriel Dike
Founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Aare Afe Babalola on Monday advised Nigerian teachers to embrace digital technology to boost learning in the classrooms.
Babalola, who spoke via virtual meeting to celebrate the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) Annual Day, said the impact of the Coronavirus has made the digital revolution as a tool in revamping Nigeria’s education in post COVID-19 era a moral imperative.
Said he: ”This is because going digital means that you fully understand how your audience uses computer technology to access what they need at the right time. A Virtual meeting allows people to share information and data in real time without being physically located together.
” I remember very vividly that when I was growing up, there were no cars in Ado-Ekiti, no electricity and there was no telephone. At school, we were using chalk and slates while on their part, our teachers were using chalk and Blackboard. But all of those have since changed. We can now communicate with the world right where you are seated through the instrumentalities of your hand set and computers. You can do all your bank transactions from your living rooms.
”If any university hopes to become a world class university, it is imperative that all the teachers must go digital. We should harness all these to make our education better.”
In his contribution, the President of NAPPS, Chief Yomi Otubela said the abrupt closure of schools and the sudden break in the economic cycle of private schools due to COVID- 19 pandemic was challenging for members, adding ”up till this moment, our members are still struggling to overcome the impact of the pandemic.”
”This abrupt closure of schools by the government to protect the students in the country, unfortunately, brought a lot of untold hardship on private schools owners who rely heavily on school fees to meet up with obligations such as payment of staff salaries, operational costs and repayment of loans obtained from various financial institutions.”
Otubela said few sectors were affected as the private education sub-sector and the situation got worsened by the fact that the education sector took a longer period to reopen compared to most sectors of the economy.
”NAPPS in its effort to ensure that the interest of members was safeguarded in the equation of things in the country set the ball rolling by making several moves through letters, virtual engagements to both the Federal Government and governmental agencies to push for palliatives to cushion the effect of the pandemic on members.”
He explained that the body submitted a letter to the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria to include and consider private school operators in the country as a matter of priority in the N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility for households and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Chief Otubela said NAPPS also requested CBN to grant private school operators access to single-digit interest and long-term loan facility (minimum of 10- year tenure) from the government established financial institutions such as Bank of Industry, NIRSA and others, stressing ”this is necessary to aid the recovery process of private schools after COVID-19 pandemic is over.”
”While we appreciate the fact that despite all odds, we could celebrate this year’s NAPPS Day even though on a low key, we are so pained that during the pandemic, it is rather unfortunate that we lost several members of NAPPS to the cold hands of death,” he stated.