The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) says arrangements have been concluded to train about 45,000 teachers from 24 states on digital literacy and remote learning.
The Registrar of the Council, Prof. Josaiah Ajiboye, made this known at a news conference on Thursday, in Abuja.
Ajiboye said the initiative was a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Education and some of its agencies under the Global Partnership on Education Programme.
He said the programme, was a global intervention introduced to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on teachers and other Nigerians.
According to him, the states to benefit are Benue, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kebbi, Katsina, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara.
“Also, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Rivers among others are part of the beneficiaries.
“Our major focus this year is the digital literacy programme, which started in 2018.
“The pandemic further strengthened that by teaching us that this is the right way to go as teachers.
“We will commence the training of about 45,000 teachers in 24 states of the federation on Feb. 21, under the Global Partnership for Education Programme,” he said.
Ajiboye said that the training, which commenced in 2021, would be carried out in batches to capture the 36 states of the federation.
He said that about 480 teachers from 16 states were trained as master trainers in 2021.
“The main objective of the training is to bridge the gap created by the pandemic.
“It is also to provide capacity development opportunities to teachers and school leaders in deploying technology in classrooms.
“The training is also to equip teachers and school leaders on emergency preparedness and response to provide safe school practice including COVID-19 and build resilience in learners against shocks,” he said.
Ajiboye commended the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, for giving TRCN the opportunity to lead the teacher training component of the GPE project.
He said beyond training, plans were being put in place to ensure that every Nigerian teacher had at least a laptop.
“We are also working with the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), for the ‘One Teacher One Laptop’ policy, to ensure that every Nigerian teacher owns at least a laptop.
“The idea is to complement teachers with digital facilities to be able to deliver on their mandate,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a separate interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the registrar said the council had hit the ground running on other activities of the council such as career path for teachers.
He said that TRCN was collaborating with other relevant agencies to commence the domestication of career path for teachers and ensure professional standard, among other things.
On welfare, Ajiboye said that efforts were on to ensure full implementation of the promises made by President Muhammadu Buhari to teachers in 2020.
He said, “It might interest you to know that implementation for extension of years in service from 60 to 65 years has commenced at the federal level and work is on-going on other promises.”(NAN)
