FG floats free e-learning from tertiary to pry levels

The Federal Ministry of Education has inaugurated a free e-learning website called ”inspire.education.gov. ng” for all levels of education to allow for easy learning access.

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Sonny Echono, at the inauguration, of the website in Abuja  on Tuesday, said the website would accommodate two million Nigerians at a time.

Adamu said that the decision was occasioned by the advent of COVID-19 which disrupted learning for two years.

He said the website, initiated by the ministry had two features-inspire for students and ignite for teachers, saying this would allow both learners and teachers have full access of the website.

He added that the ministry was collaborating with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) to allow only registered teachers have access to the website.

The minister said that the content of the e-learning would cover all levels of education saying that currently the ministry focused on primary and secondary education and would be made accessible to rural and communities without internet facilities.

He added that the current e-learning website being used by polytechnics and universities would not be stopped but rather linked to the new website.

According to him, as at today, the ministry has provided over 4,000 video lessons for basic levels, 7,000 video lessons for secondary levels and 4,000 audio lessons for secondary levels.

“We have been developing content in such we can broadcast in every media. We have the content in radio which covers the entire country and also television.

“ We have exceeded 30 per cent in terms of broadband. We are working with Galaxy Backbone to lay fibers across the country and laying it across schools in the country.

“ The content is for all levels but the focus presently is at the level of primary and secondary. This is because there is hardly any of our Polytechnic or University that does not have their own.

“We don’t have the intention to close down website for polytechnics and universities but  want to create a link for them to access the platform,” he said.

He added that the ministry was working with the Galaxy Backbone to reserve a proportion of their cyber base dedicated for the e-content.

On whether the website would accommodate teaching in the various local languages, the minister said that a committee had been set up to link up with regulatory agencies to harness local languages.

He commended the partners and local content providers for their role in bringing the project to limelight.

He, therefore, urged users to take advantage of the website saying that the ministry was working to make it seamless and economical for users.

Also, the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the ministry, Mr Abubakar Isah, said the website would offer both teachers and learners a more beneficiary teaching and learning resources to teach and understand lessons respectively.

He added that the e-learning website had also enabled states to adopt strategy for teaching.