According to a blog post on Lagosstate.gov.ng, Lagos State provides free education to over one million pupils/students in 1,010 primary schools with a population of about 497,318 pupils; 670 Junior and Senior Secondary Schools with a population of about 564,758 students and 5 Technical and Vocational Schools across the state.
‘Basic education with the proper content is critical in enhancing people’s capabilities to harness knowledge’ these were the words of the Founder, Exponential Hub, ‘Fayo Williams at the opening of the event titled: Restructuring Education to Accommodate New Realities which was held recently to garner ecosystem thoughts and ideas towards the forthcoming LAGOS STATE EHINGBETI ECONOMIC SUMMIT.
She went on to reiterate the United Nations statistics as at June 30th 2020 that a total of 1.3b learners were out of school during the lockdown and asked “If our educational system has a glitch, what would become of our economy and the children who are the future of the nation?”
Still speaking on the theme for the event, Mrs. Modupe Adeyinka-Oni, the Founder & Executive Director, Standard Bearers School Lekki, stated that the real pandemic in Nigeria is lack of education. She further shared steps she took in her school during the lock down and also explained how a group of her students named ‘BRAIN SQUAD’ were able to build a crowd funding app which was used to raise funds for children deprived of quality education. She saw the need to imbibe digitalization from the primary stages of education. The teachers were not left out as they were trained intensively on tech usage in order to bring them up to speed with transitioning to online teaching where they made use of apps such as Zoom, Whatsapp and Google meet. She concluded by saying we all have a role to play in pushing education, so let’s “Pay it forward”.
Banke Alawaye a digital expert and Co-Founder aCubed Limited, while speaking extensively on the need for Digital Transformation in Education, started by saying “We must bridge the gap and have a changed mindset as certifications alone do not connote success”. Banke discussed how she was involved in a project which utilized satellite technology to deliver health care solutions in rural areas to buttress the importance of technology in our educational system. She reiterated that both government and the organized private sector should support innovation. School management and quality assurance is important for restructuring our educational system and they can be tracked using technology.
Mr. Fidelis Martins, CEO Qataloog; a startup associated with Exponential Hub, who was also a guest speaker at the event, advocated lifelong learning as learning is dynamic, hence, we need to constantly update and upgrade our learning. He went further to define ways one can tap into Edtech. These include: creating virtual classrooms, use of virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) educational materials, and audio-visual learning content. He concluded by saying education brought about technology but technology is required to improve education.
Present at the event were Opeyemi Akanni, Arinola Gelor and other staff of Techuncode who facilitated proceedings and conducted the interview session on the red carpet.
The event came to an end with vote of thanks to all speakers and guests by ‘Fayo Williams, Founder Exponential Hub.
- Unfortunately, we lost Banke Alawaye, a worthy Partner and friend to Exponential Hub on 12th January, 2021. May her kind and gentle soul continue to rest in perfect peace, Amen.