Kwara unveils digital training for 50 public schools

Kwara State Government has flagged off a Coding and Digital Literacy training programme for at least 50 public primary and junior secondary schools across the State.

The programme was organised by the Office of the Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital and Innovation, Ishola Kayode.

Flagging off the programme on behalf of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, Sa’adu Salau, the Senior Adviser and Counsellor to the Governor, said the digital coding initiative was to strengthen the impactful investments of the administration in the education sector.

Salau, further noted that the initiative was targeted at over 150 students in each of the 50 schools for the pilot scheme.

Speaking at the launch held at the Bishop’s Smith Junior Secondary School in Ilorin, he said: “we are now faced with the reality of the digital revolution. So, what we have done today is to flag-off the training for digital literacy in 50 schools in Kwara State.

“It is our expectation that with the foundation laying of a digital society for this generation, the children of Kwara State would not lag behind among their counterparts globally.”

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Other public schools in the capital city where the pilot scheme launched included Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin Grammar School, and Sheikh Alimi L.G.E.A Primary school.

Ishola Kayode, for his part, noted that the programme was to ensure that public school students are not lagging behind in the digital world.

“They should be digitally literate, they should be able to solve problems in their communities because the problems can be solved with the knowledge of technology and if you don’t have that knowledge, you can’t actually solve the problems.

“The selection of 50 schools was to serve as a pilot scheme. 15 schools are selected from Kwara Central, 13 from North, while 22 are picked from the southern part of the State.”

Similarly, Akanbi Janet Ayoola, Principal of Bishop’s Smith College (Junior Session), acknowledged that the project was one of the best decisions the governor had taken in the era where information Technology and artificial intelligence have become a necessity of life.

Opadili Dorcas Boluwatife and Akinola Kolawole Abdulrahman, among other students, who spoke at the ceremony, thanked the State Government for the initiative.

They promised to make good use of the opportunity, saying it would enable them to compete favourably with their counterparts globally in the digital revolution.