By Dr. Aderonke Kujore
We are now in a new era. Gone are the days when the only way to acquire knowledge was moving from one’s home to distant schools to attain an education. This knowledge age is successfully making education available in every home across the globe at reasonable costs, and it’s time for Nigeria to take full advantage of it before it’s too late.
Back in the day, parents across the country would send their children to what they considered the best government secondary schools. One would see girls from Sokoto State enrolling in Queen’s College in Lagos State to get that premium education and the best teachers.
Similarly, with religious education, parents would pack bags for their children and send them several states away for that rare opportunity to be tutored by the most respected Imams in several Tsangaya or Islamic schools in Northern Nigeria.
Even at the post-secondary level, parents would send their children to America, Europe, and other countries worldwide to receive prestigious degrees from schools like Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and Cambridge. Did you know there was even a time when other Africans would travel to Nigeria to attend the University of Ibadan and Amadu Bello University? It was a thing, and there are so many proud alumni of Nigerian Universities across the globe.
What is important now is that those days are gone. And it is time we catch up with this digital knowledge age. With the settling of technology, parents and students no longer need to travel far for basic, secondary, or vocational education. A lot can be achieved through digital media, and the old culture of cramming knowledge is no longer necessary.
With the advent of Learning Management Systems (LMS), parents can now offer their children a full-fledged K-12 education from the comfort of their homes, and they can get the same or even better education than most Nigerians are receiving today at schools from the comfort of their homes.
Similarly, with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), all questions that our children may have previously needed to ask their teachers can now be answered through applications like ChatGPT using a simple mobile device in the comfort of their homes.
If you are worried about practicals, you must remember that nothing is used in schools, not bought from local markets. With YouTube videos and a little yard space, there’s no practical offered through schools that cannot be done at home. We merely recommend a little adult supervision.
Yes, yes, yes, many may be wondering about costs. Even the cost story has been solved. Today, in many states, basic education is not even free. Parents are forced to pay hidden registration, PTA, and other enrollment fees. In a family of 4 children, these fees could be much, even without considering transportation, uniforms, textbooks, and other required costs. Compared to Nigeria’s essential cost of licensing LMS systems, DIGITAL EDUCATION WINS! Parents can educate all their children with just one licensed account of about 2000 naira per month while receiving a complete primary and secondary education from the comfort of their homes. Google is free and relatively strong these days for questions to be answered using AI, and YouTube is free for practicals. The only things that might be missing are sports and other social interactions, for which I’m sure no Nigerian family needs me to proffer solutions.
Why is this article even necessary if education is available and the cost is low? Why have people not taken advantage of this? I will tell you:
The main reason why parents or families have not taken advantage of this is twofold.
1. There is still limited knowledge regarding the power of technology to deliver comprehensive education, as we are familiar with it.
2. Unlike the U.S. and other countries, the government has not approved its efficacy as an alternative to brick-and-mortar schools.
With about 20 million out-of-school children and roughly 30 million Almajiris roaming the streets, it is critically important that the Nigerian government looks into this now. Our high birth rates, lack of sufficient school buildings and qualified teachers, and this growth in terrorism or insecurity demand that we seriously consider technology as a solution to the education problem.
It will not only make education more affordable for all, but it will solve the problem of quality education; it will allow those children who cannot return to school buildings due to terrorism to continue to learn, and it will provide options for physically disabled children, those who go to Islamic schools will be able to get a fuller education, and those who have no schools in their areas will be able to receive top standard education from the comfort of their homes.
It is time for all Nigerian children to get globally competitive. Education for all can be achieved through digital education. The Nigerian Government only needs to develop a process to certify bonafide LMS systems and encourage those who cannot afford basic education to take advantage of it.
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Dr. Aderonke Kujore is a technology consultant and an education advocate. Much of her work is related to securing a basic education for all Nigerian children (regardless of location, wealth, and religion), developing good, capable leaders in Nigeria, and bridging the digital divide by ensuring a basic technology education for all children. She can be reached via: [email protected]
