By Goddy Egene
The Honourable Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu has applauded the collaboration between the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council(NERDC), one of the key parastatals of the Federal Ministry of Education and Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, on the e-Curriculum portal project. This unique technological solution, according to the minister, is a bold step toward achieving the federal government’s policy on information technology in education.
Adamu made this remark in an opening address at the stakeholders’ forum in Abuja recently, which was organised by NERDC, Sidmach in partnership with Microsoft. The forum was aimed at affording all stakeholders in the Education sector the opportunity to have further knowledge on the e-Curriculum portal and its benefits.
The e-Curriculum portal is a web-based, effective curriculum management solution for Basic and Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria. The solution is designed to provide digital access to school curriculum, teaching and learning resources for teachers, learners, and other stakeholders. The purpose is to ensure online and offline access to the prescribed national curricula in all subjects offered at the basic and senior secondary education levels in Nigeria.
The minister urged all state governments through their various commissioners for education and ministries to ensure that access to the approved national curriculum through this portal is facilitated for all schools, teachers and students in their States.
He stated that, ‘‘the Federal Ministry of Education will take appropriate steps to ensure that the Unity colleges and all other schools in Nigeria key into the effective use of the e-Curriculum to enhance the needed and desired outcome of repositioning every sector in the society, especially, the education sector.”
According to him, the education sector is too large to be left to government alone, urging other private sector organisations to emulate this partnership and find ways of complementing government’s efforts by lending their expertise and resources for the effective implementation of Government policies.
The Executive Secretary, NERDC, Prof. Ismail Junaidu, while delivering his speech, pointed out that e-Curriculum portal solution is aimed at advancing NERDC’s quest for national excellence, sustainable development and global competitiveness.
According to him, the e-Curriculum portal enable students and parents have online access to subject descriptions, prerequisites, objectives and the National Curriculum content standards, assist the policy-makers, Federal Ministry of Education (FME), State Ministries of Education (SMoE), and Local Education Authorities (LGEAs) in standardising curriculum across all schools under their jurisdiction and ensure that the curriculum is aligned with the National Curriculum content standards.
“It also encourages mentor and assist teachers to create collaboration groups and form networks to plan what is going to be taught, when it will be taught and the related tools and resources for instruction. Enhances the actualisation of NERDC’s efforts in providing the educational system with functional, sustainable, needs-driven, globally competitive curriculum and learner resources among others,” he noted.
The Executive Secretary credited their partner, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, for this bold initiative using the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, their tremendous technical and resource support as well as enthusiasm for e-Curriculum portal project.
He stated that the objective of this PPP arrangement with Sidmach is to, among others, harness the potential of the private sector in tackling the challenges of access to the basic and senior secondary education curriculum; education standards, quality and teacher development.
On his part, the Managing Director, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, Chief Peter Arogundade, noted that e-Curriculum portal is a complete teaching and learning tool which helps teachers and students teach and learn better, using the NERDC approved curriculum. He stated further that the adoption and use of this e- resource will make work smarter and lives better.
He stated that since the commencement of operations in 1994, Sidmach has blazed the trail in the provision of innovative ICT solutions and over time, saying the company has explored PPP to deploy its projects, one of the outcomes is the e- Curriculum project done in partnership with NERDC and Microsoft.
