Principals of the 110 Federal Unity Colleges (FUCs) in the country have called for funding for the upgrading of information and communication technology (ICT) in schools to meet the needs of the challenging times.
According to NAN, Tokunbo Yakubu-Oyinloye, its chairman, spoke on Monday during the group’s annual general meeting held in Abuja.
Yakubu-Oyinloye said the educational system had been badly hit following the outbreak of COVID-19 which led to the closure of schools for several months, hence the need for the adoption of new ideas.
“This is a wakeup call to us all that in this 21st century, we need innovations and new technologies to provide the best education possible to our students,” she said.
“I am proud to say that many of our principals rose up to the occasion and were able to reach out to their students with e-Learning in spite of the lockdown.
“There is the explosion of knowledge, the increased spread of social media and the ascendancy of the digital age which are the things we have to grapple with.
“Many of our schools had to incorporate online teaching methods and e-Learning with the use of ICT into our teaching and learning last year.
“This was to ensure that our students did not lose out during the lockdown caused by the epidemic.”
The FUCs chairman said the meeting, tagged “Restructuring our Educational System to suit our challenging times”, was timely as it afforded the opportunity for promotion of best practices and building a culture of excellence.
Also speaking, Chukuemeka Nwajiuba, minister of state for education, enjoined the principals to brace up to their responsibilities and return the colleges to the initial mandate of the founding fathers.
Nwajiuba said the federal government was committed to addressing the challenges facing most of the FUCs and the educational sector at large.
The minister added that President Muhammadu Buhari is making concerted efforts to deliver quality education in line with its nine-point agenda.
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