SKOOL MEDIA INAUGURATES ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. Macjohn Onyekwere Nwaobiala has been appointed the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Skool Media Nigeria Limited. The Board was inaugurated on March 11, 2020 at its headquarters in Lagos. Other members of the Board include; Mrs. Ibiwunmi Akinnola,Mrs. Foluso Gbadamosi,Mr. Sadiq Abubakar,   Engr. Emeka Udokporo and Mrs. Stellamaris Ufuoma  Omu.

Addressing the press the following day (March 12), Dr. Macjohn Onyekwere Nwaobiala opined that while government continued to play its regulatory roles in the education sector, Skool Media is being positioned to embrace the Public Private Partnership (PPP) window through maximum utilization of all its centres in the federal government owned colleges to build 21^st century students’ and teachers’ technology hubs across Nigeria.

Dr. Nwaobiala disclosed that in the last six years, Skool Media has set up 75 students technology experience centers by installing 452 projectors and providing 2500 laptops and established eight (8) teachers digital learning centres across the six (6) geopolitical zones. He also said the company has provided 377 digital classrooms across the 75 Unity Schools across Nigeria.

He added that in several of these schools, its centres are being used as Computer Based Tests (CBT) Centres where required software is available for the students to prepare them for JAMB examination.

He however said that the implementation of these digitally driven initiatives would be in phases in such a way that in no distance time Nigerian students would have been prepared for the future of work.

Dr. Nwaobiala commended the Federal Ministry of Education, under the leadership of Honourable Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu for the opportunity given to the organization to partner in improving the educational landscape through the installation of digital infrastructure in Unity Colleges.

He also applauded the secondary education stakeholders such as the principals, vice principals, heads of departments, teaching and non-teaching staff, the parents and the students for their cooperation in making this dream a reality.

The students’ technology experience centres is established in the schools as avenues for students to access a rich variety of multimedia learning content. Some of the skills learned by these students thus far include coding, Internet of Things (IoTS), Microsoft office skills, presentation skills among others. While the teachers digital learning centres is established as a collaborative workspace to promote digital learning, research and resource centres for teachers. The facility is used to teach teachers how to use a range of productivity tools to improve the delivery of instructional content.

Explaining further, Nwaobiala said the Nigerian child must be prepared to take up the challenges of modern workplace by developing relevant technology skills capable of making them qualify to face global labour market competitiveness.

According to him attaining global standards in education development is the pathway to economic empowerment of future leaders; and the country will get there in no distance future.

“At Skool Media, our vision is to be a world class education technology infrastructure company focused on re-tooling the Nigerian education system and providing a platform for the Nigerian child to compete globally. This, we have been doing since 2013, a a role model in the adoption of technology in education in Africa and being reference point for all edu-tech

stakeholders. Our ultimate target is to provide utmost professional and ethical standards in building a globally competitive educational system.” He noted.

He also disclosed that the organization would be coming up with a new digital innovation which he called “U-Create Hub”. He averred that the U-Create is an innovator’s space, where kids and youths are inspired to innovate, create and collaboratively learn coding, 3D printing, robotics and artificial intelligence. The U-Create Hub is weaved around creating technology lab that produces Africa’s foremost young innovators and problem solvers through creative thinking.

“ It will provide  range of exciting opportunities for learners to explore, through our digital lab, gamified learning resources, coding challenges, hardware programming with Arduino, robotics kits, prototyping with 3D printers, augment and virtual reality, learner-friendly Sci-fi movies, animated series and short videos on emerging technologies to inspire their ingenuity. “

“We believe that we should train our children beyond consumption. We are developing producers of technology and not consumers of technologies. We should begin to train our children beyond consumption mentality which has been the bane of our economy for years. The initiative will therefore provide insight into the mindset of students to be creative and exploratory, so that they can always think about solving problems and bringing to life practical solutions leveraging the power of Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM)”.,  he noted.

Speaking at the briefing the Chief Executive Officer of Skool Media, Mr. Moses Imayi, said as leaders tomorrow, Nigeria students must be prepared to take up the challenges of modern workplace by developing relevant technology skills capable of making them equal in tasks to their colleagues in the developed countries. He said, “ Let me assure you that the footprints of Skool Media Nigeria Limited will continue to stand on the sand of time going by the impact that the deployment of digital infrastructure has brought to the schools in the past few years.”