By AMINU DALHATU
The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, AGILE, in Zamfara State has commenced a five-day training for 140 teachers on digital literacy as part of efforts to strengthen the use of technology in teaching and learning.
The training is being conducted under AGILE Subcomponent 2.2B and involved two teachers drawn from each of the 70 intervention schools across the State.
Declaring the training open, the AGILE State Project Coordinator, Hajiya Saadatu Abdu Gusau, said the initiative was designed to translate the project’s investment in digital infrastructure into meaningful learning outcomes.
Represented by the Senior Agile officer, Maimuna Adamu said the digital literacy intervention was aimed at equipping students with the knowledge and practical skills required to participate confidently and responsibly in an increasingly digital world.
Hajiya Saadatu explained that, the Zamfara State College of Arts and Science, ZACAS, Gusau and other stakeholders were engaged as a technical consultant.
She said a Digital Literacy Manual for Senior Secondary School One to Three, as well as a Teacher’s Guide, had been developed, while 15 master trainers had already been trained to support the implementation of the programme.
The AGILE coordinator said the project was also investing in digital infrastructure, with 1,100 desktop computers and 50 projectors with screens procured and deployed to 50 schools.
According to her, an additional 500 computers were being procured for 20 more schools, bringing all 70 intervention schools into the equipment deployment plan.
She added that the project was working towards providing 10 KVA solar-powered systems and internet facilities across the 70 schools to address challenges of electricity and connectivity.
Hajiya Saadatu urged the participating teachers to see their responsibility as going beyond classroom instruction, charging them to champion digital learning, support their colleagues and promote the responsible use and proper maintenance of the equipment.
She said the teachers were also expected to ensure that students acquired practical digital skills capable of supporting learning, problem-solving, communication and future employment.
The coordinator encouraged the participants to actively engage in the training, share experiences and develop practical ways of integrating digital literacy into their regular classroom activities.
Earlier, the Zamfara State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abdulmalik Gajam, expressed concern over the low level of digital literacy among teachers and education administrators in the State.
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Executive Chairman of the Zamfara Senior Secondary Education Board, Mohammed Anka, said the planned transition by the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, and the National Examinations Council, NECO, to Computer-Based Tests, CBT, made it imperative for teachers to acquire adequate Information and Communication Technology, ICT, skills.
He described the situation as worrisome, stressing that, teachers expected to prepare students for computer-based examinations must themselves possess the necessary skills to operate computers and effectively teach their students.
Gajam said ICT, innovation and emerging technologies had therefore been given prominent attention under the state government’s education sector reforms.
He explained that the government was taking steps to address inadequate digital facilities in schools by upgrading existing infrastructure and providing facilities for digital literacy training.
The Commissioner disclosed that 14 schools, one from each local government area of the state, had been selected to serve as centres for digital literacy development.
Abdulmalik Gajam stressed the need to deploy competent teachers with strong ICT backgrounds to the selected schools, adding that similar considerations were taken into account in the selection of principals and other school administrators.
The participants for the training were drawn from 70 secondary Schools across the State.
Editing by BASIRAT MEMUDU
