The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Prof. Paulinus Chijioke Okwelle, has said the commission has trained 600 Colleges of Education (CoE) lecturers on ICT to ensure they combine the conventional methods of teaching and digital to align with global best practices.
Speaking at the official flag-off ceremony of the capacity building of Teacher Educators on the use of ICT for Teaching and Learning in Abuja, in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and two development partners, Prof. Okwelle said they have installed the model e-learning/online platform and that the training will also help them on the utilization of the e-platform for effective delivery to NCE students across the country.
He said the decision was informed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which resulted in the closure of schools in 2020 and that many tertiary institutions’ (Colleges of Education inclusive) teachers did not possess a mastery of the use of technologies to enhance student’s learning.
He said the capacity building in its first phase is aimed at equipping 600 teacher trainers from 12 Federal Colleges of Education on the role of digital technology in online/blended teaching and learning.
While noting that it will definitely encourage CoEs in the country towards devising more grounds for the production of adequately prepared and formidable classroom teachers at the basic education level, he urged all provosts whose colleges are the first beneficiaries of the capacity building programme to be diligent to ensure that the programme did not fail in their various institutions.
I believe that the capacity building of teachers and proper utilisation of this e-learning platform will tremendously assist in leveraging technology with a view of promoting new and innovative ways of teaching and learning and strengthening digital capabilities that blend the best of both digital and human resources,” he said.
The Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Nanah Opiah, said the e-learning classroom has been growing in geometric progression, with the implication that any country that does not employ it, will be left behind.
He said the adoption of e-learning will help reposition teaching and learning, adding that the e-learning method has come to stay and it is important they key into it.
He urged the NCCE to also review the curriculum to inculcate ICT subjects and work with the relevant stakeholders to ensure other CoEs are trained on ICT.
