Through the Government partnership with the German tech giant, SAP and Coder in Africa, not less than 250,000 students in Edo state public schools will be able to benefit from a training programme in coding and web programming.
With the partnership, the government aims to leverage Information Communication Technologies (ICT) to boost digital literacy skills in secondary schools across the state.
Experts from the German tech company, SAP and Code In Africa, taught over 1,700 teachers in a train-the-trainer programme, to ensure that the knowledge is passed to students in secondary schools in the state. About 250,000 students will benefit from the second leg of the training programme.
The Executive Director of Edo State Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Yuwa Naps, stated that the programme is geared towards assisting students in secondary schools to acquire skills in programming language and also equip them to appreciate digital technology.
She said at the end of the training for the trainers, the second leg of the exercise will commence from 14 to 24 of October, in schools across the state’s three senatorial districts.
She also communicated that “in 2018, more than 500 public school teachers and 140,000 students across Edo state benefitted from the programme, and in fact, one of the teachers, Mrs Oyakhilome, was sponsored by SAP to represent them at the 2019 ICT Women Empowerment Workshop in Casablanca, Morocco. ”We believe that this year, we will be able to get two or more people to represent us.”
Mrs Omokaro Isoken, a Computer Studies teacher in Oredo Girls Senior Secondary School, has expressed appreciation to the state government and its partners for the programme, she says “This will very much make learning exciting and interesting for our students. It will also boost their interest in ICT.”
Mr Akiniyi Obaide, the Executive Director, Coder In Africa, added that the programme “is a good foundation builder for children and has been accepted by most technology giants all over the world. It is targeted at youngsters from the ages of 9-16 years. The goal and aim of the programme is to help these children in lifting their families out of poverty.”