From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Systems Application Program (SAP) and the Coderina Education and Technology Foundation in collaboration with Rotary International has commenced training of 50 Teachers in Taraba on Information Communication Technology to enhance the teaching of ICT at the primary and secondary school levels of education in the State.
Speaking at the opening of the Training-The-Trainer (TTT) programme anchored by District 9125 of Rotary International, Mr Sylvester Danjuma who is also the project chairman of Jalingo City Rotary Club, explained that the exercise was aimed at increasing the level of ICT literacy among both teachers and students of schools across the State.
“Africa Code Week (ACW) is an initiative of SAP. ACW organises Coding language training every year throughout Africa and in Nigeria Rotary, in collaboration with Coderina EdTech organises teachers to attend the training as part of its contribution to education”, Danjuma further explained.
Danjuma who said that the program was part of events lined up to mark the African CODE Week, sponsored by SAP, UNESCO and other International Agencies and anchored by Coderina in Nigeria and District 9125 of Rotary International for the Taraba, added that because ICT has since become the vogue in which no society can afford to be left behind, learning the computer language and technology, SAP, UNESCO and Coderina were taking the lead in providing the enabling environment for schools to inculcate same into students.
Danjuma disclosed that since 2019 over 600,000 students have benefited from the training in Nigeria while about 3.5 million benefited across Africa and noted that the exercise which was taking place in Taraba for the first time, had drawn 40 teachers from the public schools and 10 others from private schools.
The newly trained Scratch coding language teachers are now primed to pass on the knowledge gained to their students during the week-long Africa Code Week between the October 18 and October 30
In a good will message to the event, which took place at the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) conference hall, Jalingo, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education Mr Johannes Jigem commended the organisers for bringing it to Taraba for the first time.
The Commissioner who said that the state government was spending significant resources on education development called on the private sector and international organizations to partner with the state in critical areas in providing basic education to communities.
Also, in her good will message at the event, the President Rotary Club of Jalingo City Mrs Olabisi Alaba urged the participants to disseminate information and skills they learnt from the one-day training to their students.
Alaba stressed that Coderina expected them to work towards increasing the number of beneficiaries of the program before the next round of the exercise in September next year.
Speaking in the same vein the President Rotary Club of Jalingo Prestige Mr Jerry Oliver encouraged the teachers to see this opportunity to be trained in Coding Education Technology as a rare one and encouraged them to keep themselves abreast with the technology as they are expected to bring to bear on their work their gains going forward.