Coming after the inauguration of Intel’s Teacher Assisted Program in Nigeria earlier this year which enabled thousands of teachers to have PC accessibility for the first time, Intel has expanded its education offering by announcing the launch of skooolnigeria.com in conjunction with the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA), Nigeria Ministry of Education, Shell Nigeria and the Education Trust Fund.
This launch completes the first phase of Intel’s World Ahead Program in Nigeria , which saw the implementation of Intel-powered Classmate PCs at the Government Secondary School Jabi, Abuja last year, and consequently ignited a national rollout in hundreds of schools around the country in collaboration with the government. As part of Shell’s drive to enable communities in Nigeria, Shell Nigeria will provide significant support to the program and will continue to work with partners to drive education and ICT enablement. "As a result of the broadened Intel® Teach Program which has trained over 24,000 teachers in Nigeria, 300 public Nigerian schools this year will be equipped using Intel-powered Classmate PCs, thus taking students’ learning experience to new heights," said Mrs. Esther Odekina, former principal, Government Secondary School Jabi Abuja. "Enrolment at the Jabi School in Abuja has increased by 25% as a result of the additional facilities and computer accessibility. This goes to show the importance of the role technology plays in education and we are pleased that Intel is raising the bar in order to provide African students with the necessary tools to face 21st century challenges". Intel, in collaboration with FCTA, launched the teacher PC ownership scheme in Nigeria earlier this year thus enabling over 6,000 teachers to own PCs in the first phase of the national TAPP (Teacher Assisted PC Purchase Program). "Our goal is to set the standards for ideal educational delivery where ICT becomes an integral tool for everyday learning," says David Ibhawoh, Intel business development manager." Governments worldwide are rapidly adopting strategies to use the power of information and communication technologies to transform education. This is increasing access to good education, raising standards and student attainment and preparing students for the 21st century knowledge economy. We take a holistic approach to ensuring that education, content, accessibility and connectivity work synergistically to up-level ICT development of communities – such is the mandate of the Intel World Ahead Program," Ibhawoh added. skoool™.com, already launched in other African nations including Ghana and South Africa provides localized digital education content for both students and educators alike. Math and science modules tailored to suit the Nigerian national curriculum are now available on the interactive teaching platform, thereby increasing accessibility to this content. Additionally, Intel will roll out Intel-powered Classmate PCs, the Intel® Teach Program and skoool content to 15 more schools in Nigeria this year, Intel also aims to reach another 16,000 teachers in Abuja in the next few months, as part of the Intel® Teach Program. "We are proud to bring the latest education technology to Nigeria in collaboration with Intel and are pleased to note the interest this has generated amongst local students and teachers," said Alhaji Halilu Pai, Secretary of Education. "Technology enables students to interact, communicate and collaborate with each other, and we strongly believe that these factors will enable them to excel on a global level. Intel’s support to local capability and capacity development is unparalleled and we look forward to working together to create more opportunities for the youth of Africa". skoool™.com features great benefits to all junior and senior high schools in the country by providing local content and international teaching standards.
The resources of skoool™ learning and teaching technology are similar in each country it operates in but are populated with local content. The main features are; multimedia learning objects (LearnSteps), interactive simulations (LearnSims), an award-winning maths toolkit, exam centre study notes, exam guides for maths and integrated science as well as study and revision tips. Intel’s investments in Education in Nigeria has largely changed the way education stake holders view and use ICT, "Our Investments are not be in vain as we are already reaping the returns of our investments in the FCT, the level of technology compliance of our teachers has grown over 50% since we embarked on this journey of technology adoption in education" Ari Mohammed, Director of Administration, FCTA education secretariat.
