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Ihifix Digital Summit
For Educators 2021
Rethink Education, Digital Transformation and Knowledge-Based Economy
Rationale
Education as a fundamental human right is an inherently democratic ideal. Throughout history, it has been a universally recognized concept that knowledge is power. It is precisely our universal education system and the free exchange of knowledge that has propelled our human society forward at a pace unimaginable to our ancestors.
In recent times the Nigerian educational system has been plagued with lots of issues from Covid- 19 to insecurity. There has been an unprecedented clampdown on many educational institutions with abduction of students, murder of some in the process, while releasing some in exchange for ransom by bandits.
According to UNICEF, about 10.5 million of the children between the ages of 5-14 years are out-of-school in Nigeria. This statistics is even worse in the Northern part of the country with only 53% net attendance rate, meaning almost half of the children’s population are out of school.
In the north, the gender gap remains particularly wide and the proportion of girls to boys in school ranges from one girl to two boys to one to three in some states. Student enrollment rate has declined by a whopping 23% which can be attributed to parents deciding against releasing their wards to school for fear of being abducted or kidnapped. Many of the parents who defy the odds to send their wards to school now rue their choice.
This reality is further impacted by the enforced lockdown from the covid-19 pandemic which resulted in schools being shut down intermittently for almost a year. Many of the students are currently yet to return back to school after the lockdown in 2020.
Furthermore, the educational sector in Nigeria is facing increased challenges in ensuring quality education and satisfactory learning achievement as resources are spread more thinly across a growing number of students.
The net result of all these challenges is a rapid decline in the quality of education, as performances in internal and external examinations continue to hit the rock bottle.
In the midst of all these challenges, we have found ourselves in a double-edged sword of accelerated pace of change in education brought on by modern technologies as our modern world is leaving the majority of Nigerian educators behind thereby creating a widening gap. Education Technology has revolutionized how we teach and learn. Nigerian educators can not be left behind in leveraging technology to facilitate transformative learning as we have seen in other parts of the world.
The Question
- How do we increase confidence and trust in the usage of technology in teaching and learning amongst educators thereby close the widening gap in education
- How do we correct the misleading perception of people that online education is for the elites and beyond the access to the unreached and unserved regions of Nigeria
- How can educational institutions collaborate with tech companies to create online course platforms that can adapt education to the needs of students and attract typically marginalized groups thereby democratizing education.
- How can stakeholders in the education sector work together in leveraging technology to close the diversity gap in education in areas like gender, socioeconomic background and region,
- What are the interventions from the government and International Non-governmental organisation in the areas of education technology
- What are the infrastructural needs in schools and households to deliver seamless massive open online course (MOOC) styled education.
- What are the regulations around online education in Nigeria
Our experience has shown us that democratizing learning leveraging EdTech is a collaborative effort because considering daily realities, there’s clearly no one-size-fits-all silver bullet, but if knowledge is power, how and with whom we choose to share it will be the defining feature of our future society.
We invite you to join us on the 15th of October, 2021 for the second edition of Ihifix Digital Summit for Educators’ in rethinking online education, so as to build a vibrant and efficient human capital.
Objectives
- to provide a platform that rallies stakeholders to embrace the emerging new normal of tech-based remote education;
- to leverage on technology to close the gender disparity gap in education;
- to promote tech-driven strategies to halt and reduce increasing rate of out-of-school children caused by insecurity; and
- to facilitate networking and explore opportunities for collaboration among stakeholders in championing a tech-driven education system.
Methodology
The engagement, on day one, will feature a stakeholders dialogue with PowerPoint presentations, panel discussion, interactive and commitment for action by participants. On the second day, there will be hand-on training with PowerPoint presentations, break-out and plenary sessions, and interaction.
