Yinka Kolawole
Old students of Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife, through the national body, have fulfilled their pledge to equip the school laboratories with modern equipment.
Disclosing this in Ile-Ife during the annual general meeting of the association, Mr. Sooko Adefolahan Ibiyemi, chairman of the ad hoc committee and the chairman of the board of governors of the school, said the science laboratories and the art studio were equipped with modern facilities to enhance the teaching of science.
Also speaking, the Ooni, represented by Oba Olusegun Layade, commended the old students for their commitment to the development of their alma mater and prayed for their prosperity to do more.
The Baba Oba of Ife, an old student of the college, Prince Oluropo Ogunwusi, eulogised the entire body for its untiring efforts at developing the school infrastructure for better performance of the students.
Another old student, Sheik Saka Fawole, expressed his satisfaction with the efforts.
The late Justice Bola Babalakin was inducted into the college’s hall of fame. The prizes were awarded to outstanding students and staff to encourage high performances from the rest of the staff and students.
While speaking to journalists after the event, Mr Sooko Ibiyemi expressed satisfaction with the AGM. A member of the association’s board of trustees, Pa Julius Adefiranye, advised the college’s students to justify the association’s huge investment by studying hard to get good grades in their examinations.
Digital Infrastructure, Policy, Capacity Building Critical for Resilient Education System, Experts Say
Stakeholders in the Nigerian education sector have stressed the need for more investment in capacity building for teachers; formulation of digital learning policy; and provision of digital infrastructure to build a resilient education system that could help mitigate learning losses occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic or any other disruptions.
This was the takeaway from the virtual roundtable for the June edition of Edtech Monday, moderated by a social engineering practitioner, Joyce Daniel, which featured panelists such as the Chief Executive Officer, Solve Education, Oladimeji Ojo; Education Manager, UNICEF Nigeria, Rudra Sahoo; and human focused learning designer, Henry Ogundolire.
Sahoo, who spoke at the roundtable with the theme ‘Harnessing the Power of Technology to Create Resilient Education System,’ noted that the intervention of UNICEF in Nigeria’s education system through technology has contributed greatly to reducing learning losses caused by the COVID-19 hit.
He stated that the organisation had launched Nigeria learning passport – a learning management system for children in primary and secondary schools to support federal and state governments at a time when many of them could not access learning due to schools’ closure.
The UNICEF education officer, who specialises in monitoring the process of learning and psychometric analysis with a focus on improving children’s learning outcomes, disclosed that UNICEF had trained about 59,000 teachers with ICT skills to enable them to integrate the best technology in the classroom.
Also speaking, Ojo noted that despite the disruption caused by COVID-19, his organisation encouraged learning by providing incentives for learners.
He said beyond technology, motivation, proper mindset, capacity training, and the right infrastructure are key to building resilience in the education system in order to prevent learning losses in the event of any COVID-19 disruption.
Ogundolire on his part, stated that there are different roles technology can play in ensuring that learning losses are mitigated amid any disruption, provided stakeholders understand what the focus of learning is all about.
