The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has revealed that it is working with the Federal Capital Territory Universal Basic Education Board (FCT-UBEB) to enhance digital literacy among school children in Nigeria.
This collaboration aims to revolutionise young Nigerians’ engagement with technology and equip them with essential skills to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
The director-general of NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi announced this collaboration during a meeting with a delegation from the head-to-head debate committee of FCT UBEB, led by its acting executive chairman, Dr. Alhassan Sule. The meeting took place at NITDA’s corporate headquarters in Abuja to discuss potential areas of collaboration.
Abdullahi highlighted that this collaboration aligns with a pillar of NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2.0) 2024-2027, which aims to foster digital literacy and cultivate talents. He emphasised the importance of integrating technology into education to capture the interest and potential of young people. Abdullahi also mentioned that NITDA has been providing infrastructure and resources to facilitate educational transformation, including digital learning centres across the country.
He further elaborated that the agency’s Digital Literacy for All programme is a national initiative designed to extend digital education resources to all corners of the country. Inuwa urged the visitors to embrace this program, emphasising its instrumental role in enhancing digital literacy skills among students and out-of-school children.
Also, Abdullahi pointed out that the agency is focusing on emerging technologies, conducting extensive research and development in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. He mentioned a recent collaboration between the agency and the Abuja Enterprise Agency on a Robotics competition organised for secondary schools in Abuja to stimulate interest in Robotics and technology among students.
Furthermore, the NITDA boss shared the agency’s ongoing initiatives to achieve 70 percent digital literacy in the country by 2027. These initiatives include integrating digital literacy into the national educational curriculum and providing hands-on experience with technologies like AI and robotics. He also stressed the importance of addressing the needs of out-of-school children, mentioning that the agency is developing programs in partnership with various stakeholders to attract these children through incentives like school feeding, coupled with digital literacy and other educational training.
In his earlier remarks, Sule commended the agency for its strategic initiatives to ensure a sustainable digitally transformed economy in the country. He stated that the head-to-head committee is responsible for organising the FCT basic schools’ debate competition, which will involve 900 students. Finalists from the competition will be moved to a reality house, where they will be trained on AI and robotics. This will be aired live on different media platforms.
