‘Smart schools teachers to receive training like their Korean counterparts’

The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, has assured that teachers to be deployed to smart schools currently being constructed will receive intensive training similar to that offered to their counterparts in Korea. 

He stated this while receiving a 6-member team of Korean experts led by Prof. Youngwoo Park, who paid him a courtesy visit after their 2-week visit to Nigeria at the UBEC headquarters. 

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 He said the Smart Schools initiative would boost the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for teaching and learning, adding that it was necessary for Nigeria to compete favourably in the present world of technology.

 Bobboyi said: “In many parts of the world, e-learning is an integral part of learning. Some private schools have been into this business for some time now. For public schools, we are pushing hard to ensure that we offer this opportunity to every Nigerian child regardless of whether they can afford the expenses or not.” 

He expressed satisfaction at how the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between KOICA and UBEC in October 2021 was already beginning to bear positive fruits in the smart schools project in the areas of infrastructural development, training of teachers, and content development. 

Also speaking, the Country Director of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Mr. Son Sungil, said the 6-member team was mainly made up of school teachers and capacity development experts and had been in Nigeria since August 3, 2022. 

 The team leader, Prof. Park, noted that the meetings and interactions they had with key stakeholders were extremely beneficial to both parties.

 Also speaking during the occasion, the National Coordinator of the Smart Schools Programme, Prof. Bashir Galadanci, said the Korean team of experts had shared their experiences on operating smart schools, and participated in a workshop on the finalization of training materials for teachers and education managers.