Expert Wants ICT Education In Public Schools

An ICT expert, Mr Tunde Awoseni, on Monday advised the Federal Government to promote ICT education in public schools to empower the younger generation for national development.

Awoseni, who is the Chief Executive of Global ICT Ltd, told newsmen in Lagos that ICT had become the basic driver of sustainable economic development globally.

According to him, ICT knowledge is critical for competitiveness and survival of the individual in the contemporary world and individuals should take advantage of it.

“About 90 per cent of public schools’ pupils still lacked basic computer knowledge which can deter Nigeria from achieving the Vision 20:2020 agenda,” he said.

He expressed regret that computer studies were not in the curricula of most public schools.

Awoseni said that there was the need to catch them young, if the country wanted to compete favourably across the globe.

He said that the world was becoming a global village where persons who were not ICT compliant and proficient might not be relevant in the society.

“It has been discovered that the non- availability of ICT facilities in schools hampers teachers’ use of ICT to teach their students, “ he said

Aoseni said that 75 per cent of teachers had very limited knowledge or no experience in ICT education.

The ICT expert said that this situation implied that chalkboard and textbooks had continued to dominate classroom activities in most public institutions.

He said that efforts should be made by the Federal Government to promote ICT learning institutions.

Awoseni also advised the Federal Government to invest in ICT facilities in schools to support human capacity development and advancement of social-economic empowerment.