NITDA Commissions Knowledge Access Centres in Daura

The National Information Technology Development Agency ( NITDA) has  commissioned a Knowledge Access Venue (KAV) in Government Pilot Secondary School (GPSS), Daura, Katsina State.

Speaking at the commissioning, Mr. Peter Jack, director-general of NITDA, said two schools in Katsina State were selected for the IT centre, GPSS, Daura and Government Day Secondary School, Kusada, to integrate youths empowerment in the information technology penetration process in Nigeria.

Jack said: "I am particularly delighted to be commissioning KAV in Katsina which fits into integrating youth empowerment in the IT penetration process in Nigeria. Our youths are cardinal members of the Internet ecosystem; I implore users of this facility to continue to use the venue for learning and collaboration to harness positive values for our youth population. The benefits include acquisition of ICT Skills, research capabilities, and entrepreneurship for youths as part of the education curriculum."

He noted that NITDA has been in total and continuous support of IT implementation in schools across the nation since its inception, saying the agency as part of the Federal Ministry of Communication has been faithful to the idles and principles of IT usage and penetration in Nigeria, adding that it is the ministry's mandate to ensure Nigeria and Nigerians are connected.

The NITDA boss said the establishment of KAVs is very apt even as he announced that efforts towards building a veritable and resilient knowledge based economy using ICT as an enabler has resulted to ICT contributing about 9.58 per cent to the nation's GDP.

He further said that NITDA in conjunction  with the Ministry is working tirelessly to confront various challenges facing the growth of Internet ecosystem in Nigeria, some of which includes infrastructure, low e - governance index,  innovation,  skill acquisition, adding that the challenges will soon be history to the nation's success in the IT sector development.

Earlier in his remarks, Aminu Bello Masari Katsina State Governor, represented by the deputy governor, Alhaji Mannitol Yakubu,  said the commissioning of the IT centres will no doubt enhance teaching and learning in secondary schools through the use of information and communication technology and education empowering initiatives.

‎"In line with the above,  Katsina State government will make sure that science, technical and vocational education is given much premium. The existing science and technical schools will continue to receive the needed attention they require in order to meet up with the current wave of globalisation in science and technology of the 21st century. Our existing 39 computer centres, which some have full internet services, will be improved and maintained to get the best results and achieve the set objectives," he added.

The governor said the government is quite aware that the world is now globally turning into a digital age, saying it is therefore inevitable for every society to focus it's attention towards the development of science and technology, adding that his administration will through the Ministry of Education continue to organise workshops, seminars and conferences with the aim of building the capacity of teachers to deliver for optimum results in schools.

He further said that the Computer Based Test (CBT) centres in the state will continue to be maintained and improved for use by candidates in writing their JAMB examinations in the state without any hitch.

He thanked NITDA for selecting Katsina State for the project, promising the states unflinching support and cooperation in all its programmes for the upliftment of the education sector in the state and the nation in general.

In his remarks, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Education in the state, Alhaji Sagir Ibrahim Muhammad, said the KAV will facilitate digital life style in the school as well as its immediate communities.

Alhaji Muhammad urged beneficiaries of the project to share these facilities with the surrounding communities on a commercial basis to support maintenance and ensure sustainability, adding that the project will go a long way in achieving the state's educational objective, in line with the current global wave of digitalisation and quest for making the world a global village.

He thanked the agency for identifying the schools to benefit from the project even as he tasked the school authorities to make sure the facilities are maintained and secured, noting that they may start malfunctioning and subsequently breakdown if they are left idle without proper utilisation.