Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Minister wants smart teachers for ICT-compliant students

By Ujunwa Atueyi
10 August 2017   |   3:48 am
The minister, who anticipated that the students and teachers would definitely take advantage of the benefits offered by the IoT centre, encouraged all to ensure that the aim of the project is not thrown overboard.

Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwuka

Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, has urged teachers across the country to learn more about Information and Communications Technology (ICT), so as to teach the students who are more conversant with modern technology effectively.

Speaking during the commissioning of “UNITeS Academy Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation Centre,” at the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Yaba, Lagos, Anwukah lamented that most teachers got trained outside the current ICT age, and for them to be able to teach the smart students, they must of necessity go through some trainings and become ICT-savvy.

He said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has made investments in the area of science and technology through education to address new technological challenges, adding that any teacher who fails to update himself with the demands of the modern ICT is bound to pose a serious problem to himself and his job.

Anwukah said the Internet entrenches itself as a basic commodity, which everyone must use to be in tune with technological changes in the world. He added that it is important for all to embrace the innovation and use it for changes in a digitalised form.

Promising to get support for a replication of IoT centres in other unity schools in the country, Anwukah said, “For Nigeria to run a viable education system and catch up with the rest of the world technologically, ICT is imperative. We must therefore align our education system technologically with the rest of the world.”

The minister, who anticipated that the students and teachers would definitely take advantage of the benefits offered by the IoT centre, encouraged all to ensure that the aim of the project is not thrown overboard.

Principal of the college, Rev. Chris Ugorji, while lauding UNITeS Cisco for donating 50 laptops and desks at the innovation centre, said “FSTC is remarkable as it is the first in sub-Saharan Africa to have an IoT centre.”

He encouraged the teachers and ambassadors of CISCO to be custodians of the IoT centre, saying that he has witnessed a lot of innovation in the area of ICT, hence was determined that FSTC, Yaba, and Nigerians would be part of the IoT. He also added that the use of ICT in teaching and learning today has made it necessary for every teacher to be abreast with ICT.

The Academic Director, UNITeS Cisco Networking Academy, Toyin Olatayo, said the innovation centre is a unique platform to transform ideas into reality, adding that IoT is rapidly changing people’s way of life positively.

0 Comments