1 Million Teachers (1MT) a Canadian educational technology startup, has signed a partnership agreement with Sterling Bank Nigeria to kick off a training programme for teachers in Nigeria. Also included in the partnership is the adoption of the learning curriculum by the bank.
In similar vein, 1 Million Teachers had a few week ago, signed an agreement with Queens University, Canada on its teacher education programme, which will be run by the school’s faculty of education and will be deployed using traditional and online methods in developing countries of the world starting from sub-Saharan Africa with Nigeria being the leading participant. Presently, the 1 Million Teachers foot-print has been registered in 15 African countries with more to be added before the end of 2018.
Commenting on the partnership, Hakeem Subair, global chief executive officer (CEO) 1MT who was represented by Oyeyinka Banjo, regional director for West Africa, 1MT, said the milestone partnership with Sterling Bank sign-posts the commitment of 1 Million Teachers towards providing an enabling platform for the development and advancement of teachers in Africa. The partnership is aimed to attract, train and retain one million teachers as well as develop the capacity to significantly train several millions more.
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“Education has been identified as a key driver for the eradication of poverty and economic rejuvenation of the African Continent and it is our belief that the training offered on the 1 Million Teachers (1MT) platform added to the exposure to a world class community of trainers and teachers including performance rewards and exchange programs will motivate the teachers towards offering the best to their students”; he said.
During a visit of the 1 Million Teachers team to Nigeria in July, which was endorsed by Muhammad Sanusi II, Emir of Kano, Peter Chin, associate dean of undergraduate studies, Queen University, said the programme holds mutual benefits both to teacher candidates at the faculty and teachers in Nigeria.
Femi Adeniran, global chief commercial officer (CCO) 1MT, said in addition to Sterling Bank, the company is “already in talks with key stakeholders and regulators of public and private educational institutions in Nigeria and other African countries where 1 Million Teachers (1MT) has its presence. He further stated that the company is also in talks with a leading Telecommunications company with good spread within Africa and service quality for a rapid off take and wide adoption.
