The newly launched Federal Government’s new teacher development programme, tagged, Teacher Internship Scheme (TIS), has attracted $10.4 million (about N13.5 billion) funding from Korea.
The scheme, unveiled on Thursday in Abuja, according to Tahir Mamman, Nigeria’s minister of education, is designed to support teachers with skills and knowledge in digital technology.
The minister disclosed that the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) had secured a budget of $10.4 million to support the scheme.
Inaugurating the scheme, Tahir expressed the Federal Government’s commitment to the provision of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure to enhance teaching and learning in the country.
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He said the scheme, put together by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), was geared towards helping in the implementation of smart education in the country.
Mamman, who also inspected a facility by the UBEC Digital Resource Centre, said it would serve as a hub for creating and distributing resources to schools as well as training the school personnel.
According to him, ICT has dominated every spectrum of life and Nigeria must make a paradigm shift from the traditional method of teaching children using blackboard and chalk.
He commended UBEC for the initiative, noting that there could be no quality education without teachers with the right skills and knowledge to drive the teaching profession.
Earlier, Hamid Bobboyi, the executive secretary of UBEC, explained that participants of the teacher internship scheme were graduates of education selected on merit from the 36 states of the federation. He said the teachers were expected to go through intensive training for two years.
“It is envisaged that at the end of the two-year programme, the Interns would emerge as a new breed of teachers, equipped with the skills and knowledge to harness the power of technology and transform the learning experience.
“They would not just be teachers; they will be smart teachers who would be innovators, catalysts for change, and architects of a brighter future for the Nigerian child,” he said.
Bobboyi noted that the traditional method of teaching and learning was no longer adequate to prepare learners for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
He, therefore, stressed the need to expose Nigerian teachers to digital platforms and pedagogies for them to rise to the challenge of preparing the next generation of children to survive and thrive in a globalised and competitive world.
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Son Sungil, the country director, KOICA, Nigeria Office, confirmed the $10.4 million budget to support Nigeria in the establishment of smart schools in the country.
He said the support was largely in the areas of digital content development for mathematics and science subjects, content development studio for digital content creation, and others.
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