FCTA Trains 3000 Teachers On Digital Teaching Methods

By: Sunday Shekwonya

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has launched a comprehensive training programme for 3,000 Primary School Teachers across all the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory.

Accordingly, the training is aimed to improve the effective teaching and learning by both teachers and pupils in primary schools through new teaching methodologies on digitalization, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), as well as other relevant areas to elevate the standard of education in the FCT.

Speaking with Abuja Digest, the FCT Director of Education Resource Centre (ERC), Dr. Neemat Daud Abdulrahim, revealed this on Tuesday, at the training venue for Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), School for the Blind, Jabi, FCT, Abuja.

The Director disclosed that the initiative, which is being implemented by Chalk Work Consult Limited in Collaboration with the Education Resource Centre (ERC), is focused at enhancing the quality of education in the FCT.

Abdulrahim said that Teachers in Nigeria, particularly in the FCT, needs to gain 21st century teaching related skills, especially through modern teaching equipments such as the computer, projector and learn how to use various teaching computer applications that will help the teachers, move along with the digital trend.

She said that the training programme seeks to achieve some basic objectives, which include: to expose teachers to digital best practices in class management; to enhance seamless curriculum implementation in the 21st century; to integrate culture, technology, numeracy, and literacy in modern class and to apply Personal Professional Development to meet modern challenges.

The Director re-emphasized that, one cannot give what he does not have to offer, thus, the FCT Administration has seen the need to train the primary school teachers, which she described as ‘Foundational Teachers’ to navigate from analog to digital teaching pattern to enable them provide an effective teaching style to the pupils in the FCT.

Abdulrahim, who revealed that the training, which has been ongoing since July when schools have been on holidays, has taken place across the six Area Councils of FCT and it is just the first phase that deals basically with the theoretical part.

She added that the second phase is a practical aspect, which is to complement the first phase and it is slated to commence immediately the resumption of schools for 2024/2025 academic Session.

Speaking on the sustainability, possibility and applications of switching from analog to digital teaching method, the Director, Chalk Work Consult, Mrs. Olutara Ogunwumiju, stated that a step-down training is expected to be conducted at the various schools to enable every teacher at the primary schools get same knowledge that has been impacted on the selected teachers during the ongoing digital training.

Ogunwumiju, enjoined all the participants of the training to judiciously use the opportunity given to them by the FCT Administration to focus, learn, and continue to practice often what soever they must have been taught during the training; hinting that, the world has gone digital and traditional teaching methods may be phased out in the future.