By Samuel Luka, Bauchi
The Bauchi State Government, philanthropists, and other well-to-do individuals in the society have been urged to support child education by leveraging the availability of the Digital Learning programme under the Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP) initiative to improve learning outcomes in the state.
The UNICEF Education Specialist, Bauchi Field Office, Abdulrahman Ado, stated this on Thursday during a one-day media dialogue to celebrate the 2024 International Day of Education, held in the Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
The initiative, which was launched in Bauchi in 2022, according to UNICEF, aims to leverage digital technology to improve learning outcomes in Bauchi State. Ado called for proper monitoring of the programme to ensure its success, saying that schools need to be visited periodically to assess the level of usage of the tablets and other digital learning gadgets provided to the schools.
Sometimes, teachers think the Nigerian Learning Passport belongs to UNICEF, but no, it belongs to the Bauchi State Government
The Education Specialist, who enjoined the Government of Bauchi State to take ownership of the learning gadgets, also reminded the benefiting communities that the gadgets belong to them and not to UNICEF. “Sometimes, teachers think the Nigerian Learning Passport belongs to UNICEF, but no, it belongs to the Bauchi State Government, and it is the responsibility of the state government to provide education for all learners,” Ado pointed out.
The UNICEF Education Specialist stressed the need for developing local content to complement the existing one and urged the state government to establish a Nigeria Learning Passport studio and procure more tablets and other gadgets required for digital learning. Ado observed that the number of tablets and projectors provided are not enough, considering the number of schools and learners in Bauchi, and appealed to the state government to procure more tablets and other gadgets to reach more learners.
We are calling on the government to please use the Teacher Management Information System (TMIS) in recruiting these teachers that have been approved by the government
While commending the recent move by the Bauchi government to recruit additional teachers, Ado urged the government to use the Teacher Management Information System (TMIS) in the recruitment process. He said that, given the importance of digitalizing the Education Management Information System (EMIS), there is a need to identify the people who will supply the platform with data among the teachers. “We are calling on the government to please use the Teacher Management Information System (TMIS) in recruiting these teachers that have been approved by the government,” the Education Specialist requested.
He also called for the strengthening of infrastructure in schools, including the provision of security and electricity, to ensure the safety of the gadgets and effective utilization. “We need to see the government committed in terms of resources so that we can increase the number of users of the Nigeria Learning Passport and make use of the opportunity that is available,” he said.
On her part, the Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics, Bauchi State Ministry of Education, Aishatu Aminu, said that almost all the schools across the 20 local governments of the state have been enrolled, with the exception of newly admitted students. She disclosed that the programme has distributed 1,110 tablets across 55 primary and junior secondary schools, 15 IQS, and 40 conventional schools, with each having 22 tablets.
The Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP) is an online e-learning platform with mobile and offline capability that enables continuous access to quality education. It is highly flexible and adaptable, allowing states to easily and quickly adopt the platform as their learning management system or use it to complement existing digital learning efforts. The platform has been developed with a unique suite of online and offline functions that cater to deployment in places with poor connectivity, often locations where children find themselves unable to access quality digital education, tools, and content.
The Nigeria Learning Passport is also an ‘education model’ for early childhood education, primary and secondary education, adolescent skills, and technical and vocational education
The platform serves national curriculum content as well as global supplementary resources – Open Educational Resources (OERs) – to support learners and improve learning outcomes. The Nigeria Learning Passport is also an ‘education model’ for early childhood education, primary and secondary education, adolescent skills, and technical and vocational education. Every user has a personalized record of their learning history, which is unique to them. It is also a model for teachers and parents to receive the tools and empowerment needed to support student learning.
