By Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria
In a bid to foster digital literacy and cultivate talent through collaboration, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has emphasised the urgent need to work together to review the existing school curriculum and develop a comprehensive one that incorporates digital skills at all educational levels. According to him, this is in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to create millions of jobs by leveraging digital technologies and achieving a digital literacy rate of 70 per cent by 2027.
This is contained in a press advisory e-signed by the Head, Corporate Affairs & External Relations at NITDA, Hajia Hadiza Umar.
As per the press advisory, Mallam Abdullahi made these remarks during a meeting with the management team of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), led by its Executive Secretary, Professor Janaidu Ismail, at NITDA’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja, north central, Nigeria.
Abdullahi stated that digital technology had an important role to play in the design of the curriculum, content and processes due to evolution of technology. This disruptive technology, according to him, had substituted the way of doing things worldwide of which Nigeria as a country was not to be left behind.
“We must lead in developing a competency-based, outcome-focused curriculum that addresses the demands of the 21st century. This will enable us to produce a skilled workforce capable of meeting the needs of the Nigerian market and attracting investment from other countries. Integrating digital skills into the curriculum is crucial for national development and economic growth,” Abdullahi stated.
He further asserted that government policies and objectives especially that which relates to sustainable development, 21st century skills, digital economy, creative arts and digital technology will create a pathway for nation building.
Abdullahi also explained that things had scaled up to meet up the new normal, like computer precision to digitalisation which was the central focus of the curriculum to provide citizens with the required knowledge and skills and digital technology for growth and development.
In his earlier remarks, the Executive Secretary of NERDC Prof. Ismail Janiadu stated that their institution was charged with the primary responsibility of curriculum development for the country at all levels and this could not be done without the infusion of digital literacy as a critical area for the development of any country.
The NERDC ES noted that the visit was to scale up the existing relationship, partnership and engagement and to explore potential areas that both organisations would have a tie towards national development.
Prof. Janaidu added that the institution was also responsible for undertaking and promoting book development, and local authorship for quality assurance, conducting educational research for public policies formulation and implementation and developing Nigerian languages and promote other languages to enhance education delivery and for public use.
He also commended NITDA for its significant contributions to advancing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) across Nigeria and praised the Agency’s efforts, which spanned across almost all states, and highlighted the impact these initiatives have had on driving growth and development in the ICT sector.
