EduFirst.ng: How Govt Can Seamlessly Revamp Education in Nigerian States

How can government revamp the deteriorating level of education in states across the federation?This question is top on the mind of every stakeholders in the educational system from the federal to the local government level of the country.
NewswatchNigeria can report that government need not to look far away in search for how and who is going to help in the quest to invest qualitative education across board in the nation’s education ecosystem.
This is as a noble campaign has been launched by a team of tech savvy Nigeria with focus and passion on edu-tech.
Last week in Lagos the team of tech experts launched a nationwide campaign tagged; EduFirst.ng in the bid to let Nigerians know that the soci-economic landscape of the country can be revolutionized by investing qualitative education in Nigerian children.
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Skool Media, Mr. Moses Imayi said the Campaign was launched to change the current unacceptable narratives and realigned with the 21st Century innovative solutions and policy frameworks that shape education.

“EduFirst.ng is embarking on the campaign tagged, Raising the Standard of Education in Nigeria, which is in line with the United Nations (UN) Social Development Goals (SDGS) number 4.

“This calls for both the private and public organisations to close ranks, transform and make teaching and learning fun and productive. We can’t shy away from enhancing the quality of education for the Nigerian child who is going to compete with the counterparts across the globe.

“The truth is that some of the jobs most Nigerians are engaged in today will become obsolete in the next five years. How are we supporting our young people to be relevant? EduFirst is passionate about this narrative. Through this platform, Nigerians shall be exposed to information about scholarships, educational grants and other opportunities.

“In other words, we are putting the Nigeria’s educational system in the global competitiveness. This has also pushed us to building 23 educational experience centres across Nigeria. However, EduFirst.ng is a special purpose vehicle to channel attention to standards and awareness on why no simple child should be left out from receiving qualitative education,” he said.

The Co-Founder/MD, also said that Skool Media, as the parent company of EduFirst.ng, is working assiduously towards becoming the biggest education- technology organisation in the world.

“Share in our collective passion for this nation. Already, we are doing our part by partnering with the Federal Ministry of Education to digitise Unity Schools across the country; providing opportunities for our students to learn new things that will make them relevant in the 21st Century work place”, Mr. Imayi added.

The key focus of Education First Campaign:

In a nutshell, the campaign rides tripartite objectives: to reinforce the need for quality education for all and making quality education a priority to both public and private participants;

The campaign also seeks to address the need for improvement of educational standards, leveraging the power of technology to transform and make teaching/learning fun and productive; and to identify and establish partnership with relevant organisations and institutions for the advancement of quality education for the Nigerian child.

The 13 million out of school children deserve a better life:

On his part, the Country Manager for EduFirst.ng, Mr. Idris Oladipo, described it as a great privilege for them to serve the nation in the auspicious time as education remains the bedrock in reviving hopes and confidence of the young people in the country.

“Yes. Education is the answer and EduFirst.ng appreciates this fact. That is why we are embarking on this campaign. For instance, the World Bank report says that Nigeria will have 300million population by year 2050. The only way forward for us not to remain the poverty capital of the world is to educate our young minds.

“Today, we have 13million out-of-school children. This must stop. It is not just about the kids going back to schoolrather granting them access to quality one and exposing them to global opportunities. We want to stem the tide of illiteracy in Nigeria,” he said.

EduFirst.ng platform is expected to be unveiled on the course of the campaign being an online based platform that allows for student-teacher collaboration, online assessment, students records management, scholarship information, study abroad opportunities, and unique education contents.

EduFirst.ng being a subsidiary of Skool Media has jointly worked on the experience centres across the six geo-political zones where students and teachers are provided with range of contents in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

As part of the its educational transformation mandate, the Platform has also worked closely with Skool Media team to train over 2000 teachers on relevant digital learning skills.

The Partners speak:

While commending the teams at Skool Media and EduFirst.ng respectively, the Vice President, Business Development at JobMinders, Mr. Charles Osazuwa, said they have demonstrated commitment to the course of changing the face of education in the country.

He called on the public to embrace the platform and support the initiative for the benefit of the next generation.

To Tosin Omoyajowo of Connect Marketing, knowledge is key, however, the vital tool that drives education today is technology.

“The wealth in Nigeria is enough to give quality education to every child out of the 13million who are reportedly out of school. Let’s ‘clone’ Moses’ passion by supporting the initiative and become advocates. There are countries without oil and they are doing fine.

“The next thing that will happen to Nigeria is human capital that will bring the country to the level of the counterparts as developed economies”, he added.

The platform has a total of 3600 DigiSmart Agents who are worthy ambassadors of the computer science and STEM programmes in schools as Joy Nwazue and Peace Nwazue were presented to the media as ambassadors for the campaign.