During a recent event, KOICA, the Korea International Cooperation Agency, has restated its dedication to promoting and helping Smart Education in Nigeria. At a workshop in Abuja, jointly organised with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Mr. Son Sungil, the Country Director of KOICA, made a firm dedication and commitment. The two-day gathering with the theme `Institutionalisation of Smart Education in Nigeria’ aimed to advance the cause of smart education and was centred around finding a permanent fixture in Nigeria’s educational institutions.
The agency’s statement emphasises the extreme importance of shaping Nigeria’s future of learning and empowering the minds of the next generation through innovative, creative and sustainable smart education. Not only are they a group of passionate individuals committed and dedicated to basic education, but they also constitute a collective force wholeheartedly committed to shaping and rebranding the future of learning and empowering the minds of the next generation in Nigeria through innovative and sustainable smart education.
Students and teachers will enjoy the benefits of the project.
According to the statement, they affirmed that their primary goal in this workshop was to join forces and work towards establishing an all-encompassing and long-lasting intelligent education system in Nigerian public schools. This objective, he emphasised, can be achieved through strong cooperation with UBEC, as well as other essential groups like the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC). The South Korean government has been extremely fortunate to offer its unwavering support to the Smart Schools Programme, as articulated by Bala Zakari, UBEC’s Deputy Executive Secretary.
South Korea’s commitment to aiding in establishing and functioning schools is unwavering. Years ago, they launched their smart schools programme, which has proven to be remarkably fruitful. KOICA, with the support of UBEC and its project managers, has made significant progress in implementing the initiative. As a result, both students and teachers in these schools are already enjoying substantial benefits from this project. Zakari highlighted the fact that apart from the six smart schools supported by KOICA, seven additional smart schools have begun their operations, while the remaining 24 are anticipated to initiate functioning before September 2024.
$10.4 Million grant was allocated for smart schools in Nigeria.
UBEC’s strategic initiative aims to revolutionise education by implementing smart schools across every state in the federation, alongside the Federal Capital Territory. To further support this cause, KOICA has generously allocated a substantial grant of $10.4 million to benefit six of these schools. Additionally, KOICA is actively engaged in strengthening the knowledge and skills of teachers, educators, and policymakers on a global and local scale. Smart education involves maximising the potential of information and communication technologies to achieve desired learning outcomes through an appropriate informational methodology.
Also, the aim of smarter education is to establish intelligent and supportive environments through the utilisation of advanced technologies. This will enable the implementation of innovative teaching methods, offering convenient and personalised learning services. It is essential to empower learners to develop their talents and acquire wisdom, enabling them to possess valuable moral values, higher thinking capabilities, and stronger ethical conduct. These improvements will pave the way for a more prosperous and intellectually advanced society in Nigeria.
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In a related report, Mr. Son Sungil, the Country Director of KOICA, emphasised the crucial significance of teachers in both students’ lives and the triumph of the smart school initiative. He mentioned that this teacher training session stands as the third session in the sequence of the training organised by KOICA in support of the Smart School Project. In December 2022, a group of twenty principals and twenty education stakeholders from Smart Schools underwent training in Korea. The visit, led by Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, the Executive Secretary of UBEC, included the SUBEB chairman and aimed to explore Smart Education practices.
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