Kwara State Government, in partnership with the World Bank, has targeted 28,000 school girls for digital skills training under the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a one-week workshop programme, tagged, Kwara AGILE digital skills workshop for Master Trainers in Ilorin on Monday, the director of training/operations of AGILE digital skills training project in Kwara, Olalekan Adeeko, said that the training programme includes 70 participants, who are the public school teachers selected across three senatorial districts of the state.
He said that the training programme would enable participants to train other teachers in their schools including students on digital knowledge.
“The benefits of the training is for students, teachers, and entire Kwara. Teachers will be trained on different skills, e.g. Digital citizenship, entrepreneurship, STEM, and climate action,” he said.
Adeeko, who said that the teachers are expected to cascade the training received during the workshop to the students, added that the end product is the students.
“The teachers will go back to their schools and ensure girls are well trained.
We’re starting with teachers because we don’t want to jump to critical stakeholders.
“We’re training 70 teachers who will go back to train 210 teachers. The 280 teachers together, would now train 8,000 girls and then expand to more students. The target is 28,000 students at the end of it all.
“If the 28,000 students are well trained and empowered, you know that it will affect let’s say 28,000 families, and members here would be about a million plus of Kwara indigenes and more.
“And what they come up with is going to improve economic standard of the state, Nigeria, and Africa as a continent.
He also said that one of the purposes of the training is to discourage school children from learning some jobs that AI and Automation will handle in near future.
“We want them to be well empowered and be ready for jobs that are not even available now and compete favourably with other students all over the world.”
Also, speaking during her presentation on the topic, Microsoft’s Commitment and Future of Work/Potential Opportunities for Gender Inclusion, Education Industry, the director, Microsoft Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, Angela Nganga, said that today’s learners seek flexible and on-demand education that align with their evolving needs.
Nganga said, “We must provide technology-driven tools that support continuous skill development to the children, to allow them to learn just in time and adapt to the changing job market.
“Their curiosity about technology’s impact on society presents an opportunity to foster innovation and problem-solving, ensuring they remain agile and ready for the future of work”.
Some of the participants, including students at the workshop, expressed delight at the opportunity to get empowered with 21st-century teaching skills and knowledge that would enhance greater engagement.
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